Cry to the Moon
by Neko-Houkou
Summary: A few months before the appearance of the Anti-Spirals, Viral meets a figure from his past, and upheaval and chaos ensue as they embark on an adventure. Some OOC, with a tiny dash of ViralxOC. T for cussing, innuendos, and Viral's violent imagination.
1. Ugh, here we go

Edit: Ok, added some censorship, not that most people would notice.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gurren Lagann. If I did, I would be able to find out why Rossiu's forehead is so shiny.

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><p>Viral inhaled the stench of the city; sweaty humans and rotting garbage. It wasn't as though he did it intentionally, but with such a keen sense of smell he couldn't help it. Unless, of course, he wanted to breathe through his mouth. That was even less appealing because then he would be able to <em>taste <em>the filth, and he had little interest in experiencing the flavor of rotten grapehippo. So he tried to ignore the scent as best he could as he continued his walk through the city, and instead focused on the loud honks drowning out the gentle hum of the vehicles hovering overhead. The sound hurt his ears, but a headache was preferable to vomiting.

He disliked the city in the evenings. In fact, he disliked this noisy, filthy city at all times of the day. At least it wasn't as bad as _The City_, the one that was named after that bastard naked ape. Viral had only visited Kamina City once, three years after the fall of Teppelin, and once had been one time too many. He had high tailed it out of there as fast as he could and had arrived in West City, taking up residence in the slums for the past three years. And by taking up residence he meant moving form uninhabited apartment to uninhabited apartment with no intention of paying.

He kept to himself mostly, and had no friends despite the length of his stay. It wasn't as though he was hiding, or else he never would have gone to Kamina City, but he didn't really feel a need to be social. He didn't really feel a need to cut his hair or buy some new clothes either. His hair had just recently passed his shoulders, and he had taken to wearing plain brown pants, a plain brown poncho, and a reddish-brown scarf. When he had been a Commander in the Human Eradication Squad, he would never have allowed himself to live like this. Viral had taken pride in his appearance. That was when his appearance had mattered though. Now he kept himself clean, but other than that didn't really care; there wasn't anyone he needed to impress.

His ears perked up as he heard sirens in the distance. They seemed to be getting louder, and he wondered vaguely what was happening. Viral was bored most of the time, having no true need to sleep and thus having far too much free time, plus he no longer had a job, only making the matter worse. An accident or bank robbery would have been just what he needed to entertain him, for a while at least.

Picking up his pace slightly, he turned a corner and headed toward the sound, when it suddenly stopped. The issue must have been resolved. He gave a disappointed sigh. He knew he would be able to steal a paper and read about it the next day, but it wasn't the same as being there and seeing the chaos firsthand.

Viral turned around and was about to head home when he saw two Grapearl officers out of the corner of his eye. They ran past the intersection and away from where he was standing, glancing around as though looking for something. He turned again to go back to where he thought he had last heard the sirens. Something interesting was happening. More interesting than usual, at least. Perhaps a fugitive had crashed the car and that was why the noise had stopped, and why the officers were running around on foot now.

He turned another corner, hugging the overly tall building tightly. Perhaps if he hadn't been so close, if he had left just enough room for another person to pass by, his life wouldn't have been turned upside down.

But Viral stayed close to the building, and was consequently knocked over by another body moving at a much higher velocity than his. He closed his eyes as he felt his regenerative abilities kick in, healing both his bitten tongue and split skull. Whatever moron had run into him had better be grateful he landed on bottom!

He opened his eyes again to see what pathetic excuse for a creature had bumped into the wrong beastman, and to yell at said creature to get the f**k off of him. Instead he found himself staring into a pair of big blue eyes while having a flashback. He was surprised, but not by the fact that he was having a flashback. That tended to happen every now and again, and usually the memory was of that sunglasses-wearing bastard and the pipsqueak handing Viral's ass to him on a silver platter. No, it wasn't the fact that he was having a flashback, but the content of the flashback that surprised him. He remembered a _hideous_ white sundress, with big, loud, _disgusting _pink and orange polka dots, as well as the scent of watermelonpuma (A/N: I have no idea. Don't ask.), which was a whole lot more pleasant to his senses than the ugly dress that made his eyes water.

Then he went from surprised to out of his mind shocked. It wasn't possible…

He was brought back to reality by a shout of "Hey, you there! You are under arrest!" The human woman on top of him gasped and turned her head to see the two officers that had passed by Viral just a few moments earlier. She jumped off of Viral and bolted, the beastman following close behind thanks to the quick reflexes that instinct gave him. The officers had apparently been expecting Viral to catch her for them, so they were surprised when he pulled level with her, then grabbed her shirt sleeve and took the lead.

Viral had the advantage; not only was it obvious that the woman was faster than the officers and could keep up with him relatively well, but he also knew the slums much better than the two morons in uniform. The odd pair soon lost their pursuers, and Viral was about to stop running when he turned a corner. Unfortunately, there were several Grapearl officers at the end of the street and they were quickly spotted. Viral dragged the woman down a side street, then another, but it was obvious that these officers were in better shape than the first two.

Just as he was running out of options inspiration struck Viral, and he leapt into a window on one of the side streets, literally yanking the woman in after him and nearly tearing her shirt off and dislocated her arm. He silenced her yelp with a hand over her mouth as he took in his surroundings. He knew that as soon as the officers realized they weren't in sight, the group would split up to carefully investigate potential hiding places, so Viral needed to make sure he could properly "hide" here. A smirk crossed his face as he saw exactly what he needed to pull off his plan; a bed sitting in the middle of the room. Creepy in a suggestive way, yet convenient.

Most of the apartments in that section of the city consisted of two rooms: a bathroom and a bedroom/kitchen/storage room/living room, and the windows never had glass. The stove in the corner of the crammed room caught his eye for a brief moment, looking oddly clean in the dusty musty place, and he prayed that the bed was just as clean. Though they only needed a few moments he didn't want to catch fleas… again.

Ignoring her protests he pushed the woman onto the bed and straddled her hips, hissing in her ear, "Be quiet! Or do you want to go to jail?"

She stopped struggling immediately. Satisfied that he had her cooperation, he unwound his scarf and tied it around her eyes, and was pleased to find that there was just enough length for him to tie her hands to the iron bed frame as well. Hearing the quiet, steady footsteps of the officers approaching Viral quickly removed his poncho and set it on the floor. When he could tell the officers had nearly reached the window he leaned forward, placed his mouth on the side of her neck furthest from the window in order to hide his face, hesitated for a moment, and then bit her.

According to plan she shrieked just as the officer's shadows fell across the bedroom/kitchen/storage room/living room floor. The startled officers looked inside and Viral bit her again, making her yelp more loudly. Not according to plan the officers stayed where they were, forcing Viral to take a chance. The reason he had tied the scarf around her eyes first was because he had been afraid they would recognize her face. Now he prayed that they didn't recognize his.

"Do you mind?" he asked, turning to them with a vicious scowl on his face. The officers, a pair of fresh-out-of-the-newly-created-academy greenhorns whom Viral also assumed had absolutely zero sexual experience, jumped at being addressed so suddenly and scurried off to look for the fugitive woman elsewhere. Viral snorted. They didn't even have the decency to apologize.

Once he was confident that no one else would be coming this way to look for them he untied his scarf and moved off of the woman, and stood at the foot of the bed after he had retrieved his poncho from the inch of dirt on the floor. Absentmindedly brushing it clean, or as clean as it could get, he took a moment to observe her.

Her blue eyes looked at him angrily as she rubbed her neck. They stood out rather oddly against her slightly tanned skin and black hair. Said hair was barely longer than his, and short bangs curled into her forehead though the rest was relatively straight. He followed the length of it to the angry red mark on her neck. A little wave of guilt surfaced, but he squelched the wayward thought beneath a metaphorical boot. He had helped her escape from the officers; she should at least be grateful he hadn't broken the skin. Or that leather strip which he assumed held some sort of charm on the end, though it was tucked into her shirt, so he couldn't be sure. It would have been a shame to leave an open wound on such a long neck, especially one that tasted so spicy.

Viral mentally shook his head at the stray thought, rattling it so badly that it laid on the floor of his mind, concussed, and continued to use his eyes, not his tongue, to get a better impression of this human. She wore odd clothes; an earthy red t-shirt, an elbow length fingerless glove, and leggings, and a black skirt, another elbow length fingerless glove, and knee high boots with a low heel. As much as he liked red, he didn't care much for that shade, and thought the whole ensemble was less that attractive.

Not that it didn't flatter her figure. Everything hugged her body nicely and accentuated her thin waist and wide hips. She was pear-shaped and didn't have a whole lot of chest, but just enough to look good on her petite frame.

At least, that would be what someone else thought, because Viral would never look at a human in a lecherous manner. Never. Seriously.

Still, Viral decided he liked this outfit better than the painful-to-look-at sundress.

He checked her scent next since it might give him a better indication of what had happened, seeing as how nothing visible gave him a clue, unless she was on the run from the fashion police. The smell of sweat was the first thing he noticed. That didn't tell him anything, so he focused harder, and noticed something more subtle. It smelled almost like… the ocean? What the hell was that about? They were hundreds of miles from the ocean, so unless she was robbing one of those tropical fish stores and a tank had been dumped on her he had no idea as to what to make of that particular scent. Then he noticed the lack of watermelonpuma smell. Could it have been replaced by the ocean smell? That was most likely, he thought. So then, he refocused, why was she on the run?

More importantly, how was she still alive after all of these years?

In the very short amount of time it had taken him to make all of these observations the woman only had enough time to change her expression form angry to the one she had worn when she first bumped into him.

"Viral? Is that really you?" she asked, her voice filled with awe.

He didn't mind the sound of her voice. Most people's voices bothered him, but hers was alright. Much better than it had been 15 years ago anyway.

"It's been a long time hasn't it, Kimi?"

She didn't answer, but stood as he slipped his poncho over his head. He took note of her silence and said, "You have some explaining to do."

Kimi nodded. "Fine, but I think we ought to get away from here first. You know, before they come back with reinforcements," she added when Viral frowned.

The beastman snorted, "I doubt that those buffoons are that intelligent. You're giving them too much credit." Yet he hopped out the window anyway, not bothering to offer her a hand even though the window was quite high for such a small person. She managed to get out rather gracefully, though, and took the lead as they headed out of West City and toward the Guame Desert.


	2. No Face?

Okay, I got really excited about posting my first chapter and I forgot to plead for reviews ^^; So… please review!

Also, I know the story starts a little slow, but I promise it will get better! At least, _I_ think it will get better, though you are free to disagree.

P.S. I don't own Gurren Lagann. If I did, Viral would get more lines.

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><p>Viral was surprised at how easily Kimi managed to climb the semi-steep sides of the crevice. Even with his claws giving him additional grip he was still having problems. Yet Kimi climbed steadily and easily, and not once did she give him a flash up her skirt.<p>

A spiderfly buzzed around Viral's head, irritating him to the point where he had to stop and kill the stupid thing, and when he looked up again Kimi had vanished. She couldn't have fallen, otherwise he would have heard her, plus he still smelled her nearby…

"Kimi?" he asked, preferring to hear a quick answer.

She turned around, startling him. She had reached a level spot and was standing, half hidden in the shadows as she waited for him. Even with his superior eyesight he wouldn't have seen her if she hadn't moved. That was when he realized that her ridiculous outfit wasn't a fashion statement, but camouflage.

"Yes, Viral?" she replied, looking down at him.

Not wanting to admit he had been fooled, Viral asked, "Where are you taking me?" Then he added, "The sun's almost down." Even though Viral no longer had the urge to sleep he didn't exactly feel like waiting for her to rest during the night. Plus, she didn't know about his "upgrade" and for some reason he didn't want her to figure it out just yet.

"Don't get your fur in a bunch, our destination is just on the other side of this ridge," she explained, pointing to the twenty feet of rock left to climb. "And there's a shortcut."

As soon as he made it onto the ledge she turned around and led him through a well concealed pass through the ridge. He wouldn't have, in a million years, or perhaps only a decade, guessed he would see what he saw on the other side of that pass.

In a little valley hidden from prying eyes sat a black ganman which looked oddly like a six-legged spider.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Kimi asked as Viral continued to stare.

He shook himself out of his reverie. "What's that ganman doing here?"

Kimi smiled. "You like it? I call it Enkinex."

Viral failed to mask his surprise as he turned to face her. "That's _your_ ganman?"

"You don't need to sound so shocked. I'm an excellent mechanic _and_ pilot," she said indignantly due to the fact he had underestimated her abilities.

He knew he should have known she would be a natural with ganmen. Apologizing wasn't Viral's specialty, though. "I've never seen a ganman like that before."

Distracted from her injured pride by his genuine interest in her work, she smiled. "I'm not sure, but I think it might be one of a kind. I found it in the desert 15 years ago. You should have seen it then! It was all dirty and had dozens of broken parts. It took me four years to make it battle-ready again. I'm just glad the levisphere wasn't busted or I probably would have never been able to replace it, it was such a unique model. I didn't even see anything similar during the Giha-Teppelin War."

His brow furrowed. "You were a pilot in the war?"

"Of course I was. I helped get a bunch of ganmen battle-ready as well as piloting Enkinex. Besides, I'm sure you can guess how I felt about that tyrant," she said darkly.

For a moment they stared at each other in silence. Viral knew. Not really feeling much concern for his former master, though, he didn't have the urge to defend the man, especially not to Kimi. Yet some days he still wondered what the old coot had meant by that warning about 1,000,000 apes, and why he had felt he was protecting humanity.

On those days Viral always came to the conclusion that the man had been loony.

"I just meant that you don't strike me as the type to go to war," he commented lamely instead of asking what was really on his mind; did she despise him as much as she despised the former despot?

"Yeah, well…" she trailed off, not really sure of what else to say.

She led him down a sloped narrow path that would take them to the bottom of the valley. As soon as they reached the bottom Viral picked up his pace slightly in order to observe this 'Enkinex' more closely. Ignoring the familiarity of the name he observed the strangeness of the ganman. What he'd originally thought of the body was that it was a single flat disk with a raised face, but actually it was actually five sections; two sections attached to the pairs of legs in front and back, two sections attached to one leg on either side of the 'face', and the 'face' itself, which was actually a sphere to which everything was connected. The thing didn't have a single face!

Getting over his initial shock at the faceless machine, he took note that there was some heavy damage. The thing wasn't even standing on its own, (not that he could figure out how it would do that anyway, considering the legs ended in relatively small points,) and so was leaning against the canyon wall. It looked as though the legs could fold in half at one joint, then move to actually rest on top of the ganman so that it could sit on the ground, so he wondered why it was standing. Then he noticed the top joints on both of the front legs and one of the back had been smashed, rendering it incapable of folding.

There were also cracks running along the armor of the body. He had noticed from his vantage point on the ridge that the 'face' had been oddly shaped, so he assumed the center sphere had been damaged as well. He walked underneath and noticed that the left leg section was beginning to separate from the sphere. The casing around the levisphere was beginning to crack, though from what he could tell the core itself was alright.

"Were you stealing parts to fix this?" he asked, though he couldn't imagine why. It would have made more sense for her to get a job as a mechanic in Kamina City so she could buy parts, even though he had a feeling this ganman ran on spiral energy, making it illegal. Perhaps she was simply on the run for possession, but that didn't make sense either, since the Grapearl Squad could easily find and confiscate the battered Enkinex without even discovering she had anything to do with it; none of the parts she needed for repairs would hint at the nature of said repairs, so they couldn't tie her to it. But if it had been damaged in the war she should have had enough time and resources to fix it before legality became an issue. What was going on?

She knew it was time to explain. "Yes, but that's not the main reason I'm wanted."

"What is?"

She put a hand behind her head and grinned sheepishly, "Eheh, well it's actually, uh, kind of funny when you think about it. I'm wanted for treason against the new government of the Capital Kamina City."

Viral didn't find anything about that funny. "What," he snarled, "did you do?"

Her demeanor quickly changed to serious. "I wish I knew."

Viral's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. What was she getting at? Was she claiming to be innocent? That fit better with his former image of her, but finding out that she was a war pilot had proved that humans really were capable of change on a personal level.

"Let's get inside, it's almost night, and I know you aren't nocturnal."

He didn't correct her, but watched as she tugged on the leather strip around her neck revealing a small drill similar to Simon's as well as a blue glass bead. He didn't really pay attention as she lifted the drill and a ramp appeared from the bottom of the ganman. His focus was mainly on the bead, as it was something he had expected to never see again, just like her. As she hid the necklace once again he decided against commenting on the piece of jewelry, admitting that despite his curiosity he probably didn't want to know why she still had it.

He followed her up the ramp and into the cockpit of Enkinex. It was actually fairly spacious, enough for them to both lie on the floor comfortably in they chose. Then he noticed the controls. There were two handles and three screens which was the standard for all ganmen, but that was where the similarities ended. This one had four levers and an array of colorful buttons as well. It was impossible for him to guess what in the world so many candy-colored gadgets could be used for, other than making Attenborough flip out, but he wanted to hear more about her "treasonous" activities before questioning her on the functions of her ganman.

She sat down on the floor, the chair being on its side in the corner. Viral was a little shocked when he hoped that she hadn't been inside the ganman when whatever had damaged it had occurred, but quickly shook off the feeling and sat down across from her.

"Ok, so, I was in Kamina City to check things out, see the newest ganman models, learn about the new government, and so on. Thanks to my connection I managed to get into the government building, but everyone was busy and I was left on my own for a while, so I decided to go exploring. I ended up stumbling into a room that I now assume was "off limits." That's how I got into trouble.

"There were a bunch of screens with information on them. One had some kind of counter on it, and the number kept climbing steadily. Another had ganman blueprints, and they said that the ship was being built to withstand space travel! Can you believe it?" she asked excitedly.

No, he couldn't, but he said nothing and waited for her to continue. She noticed that her enthusiasm was being wasted, so she did as he wanted.

"The last screen was the most bizarre, though. It had a map with red, yellow, and green markers on the cities. The green were 'above ground,' and the red were 'below ground,' but the yellows were odd. I happen to know that some of those cities are very successful below ground cities, but they were marked as 'to be evacuated.'

"I didn't have much time to investigate, because some chick with brown hair and glasses walked in with Chief Secretary Rossiu. They looked surprised to see me, but they acted nice and offered to escort me around the building. When they tried to hand me over to a bunch of security guards I bolted. I manage to escape the city and activate Enkinex before the Grapearl Squad caught up to me in those weird ganmen that don't need spiral energy. It took a small tussle, but I managed to get away. They keep finding me every once in a while, and as you can tell Enkinex has been suffering for it, but it's been three months and I still haven't been caught, despite the bounty on my head," she finished.

Rossiu was planning something, and Kimi had seen too much, Viral thought. As much as he hated the deceased manly bastard he disliked Rossiu almost as much, just in a different way. The overly determined bastard had been downright infuriating, but Rossiu was like some pathetic, cowardly, slimy creature that had crawled out of the mud despite the fact that it should have stayed there. At least, that had been Viral's first impression of the human. Viral's opinion was solidified by Kimi's story. She had no reason to dislike the new government, or to lie to him, so he chose to believe her explanation of why she was a fugitive.

"Sounds legitimate."

Kimi looked at him with disbelief. "Did you think I was going to lie to you?"

"Have you contacted Simon, Nia, or anyone else in the government?" he asked, ignoring her question.

"No," she huffed, angry at being dismissed like that. "Somehow I don't think Simon is involved in this, but I have a feeling someone would be listening in if I just tried to call, considering that would be one of the first things Rossiu would expect me to do, and I'm not sure how effective that would be in terms of preserving mine and Simon's lives. I tried to see him in person a month ago, but security is too tight for me to sneak inside without help."

Viral turned that last statement over and over in his head until he arrived at a conclusion. As inevitable as it was he prayed she wouldn't think of it, wouldn't ask, wouldn't even realize it was an option, because he knew it was the _only_ option and if she asked he would say yes despite the fact he wanted nothing to do with the new government even if there was a possibility he could help get the death sentence for that pathetic mud worm _and please don't let her ask_…

"I don't suppose you would be willing to help me?"

On the inside, Viral was making a grand show about how much he would _not_ be willing to help her, involving lots of howling and hair pulling, but outwardly his expression remained calm as he said in a bored tone, "I suppose I could, so long as you listen whenever I give you an order."

She gave him a half grin. "What is this, some sort of alpha male thing? I thought only dogs had that issue and last I checked you were a cat."

"Cat-Shark beastman," he almost growled, but not quite.

She gave a little laugh and smiled. She had a decent smile, he thought. If her teeth were a little more pointed it would have been much better, but for a human it wasn't bad.

"Don't get your fur in a bunch. We're partners, and I know you wouldn't take orders from me, so I won't be taking orders from you. I'm open to suggestions, but unlike you I've always had a problem with authority."

He thought about the last comment. As a Commander, Viral had followed Lordgenome's orders almost mindlessly. It wasn't until the war that he had truly begun to think for himself, to flout the authority that his creator had over him, although she had planted the seeds long before. He could see the benefits of being a subordinate, such as organization or being able to blame poor choices on his superior, but he preferred being free to make his own decisions about his existence.

Viral knew she was incapable of being subordinated as he had once been; the fact that she could power a ganman was evidence enough, so he had no choice but to agree to her terms.

"Very well," he responded, trying not to sound annoyed.

"Good. We'll need some sort of transportation, since Enkinex is no longer mobile."

Viral raised his eyebrows at the statement. "It can't even fly? I thought the levisphere was fine."

"The levisphere is fine, but the connections aren't. I have no way to fix them either."

Viral snorted. "If you let those idiotic Grapearl ganmen damage yours this badly I have to wonder whether or not you're even a mediocre pilot."

She turned a shade of red he had never seen before. "I am a good pilot! You try outmaneuvering 30 trigger-happy officers!" she said, her voice somewhat loud, though not enough to hurt his ears.

He snorted again. "Whatever. The point is that your ganman is busted, mine is still practically scrap metal from the war, and any type of public transportation we use would run the risk of you getting caught. So tell me, what sort of transportation did you have in mind? Walking over 1000 kilometers sound like fun?"

"It's easy for you to say what can't do instead of what we can. I don't hear anything brilliant coming out of your mouth either, so let's sleep on it and think of something in the morning," she pouted, arms crossed underneath her breasts.

Apparently finished with the conversation, Kimi laid on her side with her back to Viral. The beastman made no move, not truly needing the rest. He was able, aside from actually sleeping, to enter a sort of half-sleep, almost like meditating, where he was somewhat unfocused and occasionally daydreaming, but could easily become alert again if needed. So he settled himself against the wall in preparation for the unnecessary yet convenient trance when Kimi spoke again.

"Viral?"

"What is it?" he grumbled.

She lifted her head to look at him over her shoulder, smiling at him. "I'm really glad I ran into you today," she said before laying her head back down and falling asleep.

That made one of them, Viral thought almost bitterly. It wasn't that he was unhappy at her sudden reappearance, but he had thought she was long dead. There was still some shock, but mostly indifference. He felt that her presence, or lack thereof, had not really affected his life one way or the other thus far and now that she was back she was only making him less bored, but not necessarily happy.

He supposed it didn't matter. Their situation would only be temporary, and when the mission was accomplished they would go their separate ways.

Much to his annoyance, he "dreamt" of ugly sundresses that night.


	3. Gesundheit

Rate and review please!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gurren Lagann. If I did, Boota would get more screen time.

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><p>"This was your <em>brilliant<em> idea?" Viral hissed after muffling yet another sneeze with his poncho.

Kimi twisted her head to glare at him. "If you hate it so much, why didn't you suggest something better?" she whispered.

The two had decided to sneak onto a supply caravan headed east toward New Littner. Unfortunately, their options of where to hide were limited. They would need to hide in either the grapehippo pen, which was full of stinking animals, the scrap metal cache, in which they were likely to be impaled, or in the feed cart, where Viral would likely sneeze his head off due to the dusty hay. Needless to say he would rather sneeze himself to death and repeat the process several times than wallow in grapehippo filth.

They were almost completely buried in hay with only their faces showing. They tried to make themselves as comfortable as they could during the bumpy ride. As uncomfortable as he was, and as annoyed as he appeared to be, Viral was actually impressed be her ingenuity and quick thinking. Not that he was ever going to admit it to her or anyone else.

"It's only for one day. We'll find a different ride when we get to town."

Viral's only reply was another muffled sneeze. His nose felt like it was on fire. Not for the first time, he was undecided as to whether a keen sense of smell was a blessing or a curse.

They continued the trip in miserable silence. The bright desert sun made the itchy hay even more uncomfortable, but that didn't bother him too much. He tried to rest as best he could, though it was difficult since he was jarred back to reality every time the speed of the cart changed, making him worry all over again that they would be caught before they reached their destination.

Somehow they managed to remain unnoticed by the caravan members, and skedaddled away from the evil hay and into town the moment the coast was clear.

New Littner was much smaller than West City in terms of both radius and height. There were fewer hover cars and therefore less honking. The streets, even on the outskirts, were relatively clean and best of all the air was fresh and free from the stench of unclean humans! Of course, Viral didn't notice this for a while due to the fact that his nose had become a miniature snot waterfall by that point. He would have chewed off his own arm several times for a tissue.

He did his best to ignore it and slunk around a corner into a back alley with Kimi close behind. It would be best to wait until nightfall before investigating the town since they both stuck out like sore thumbs, or in Viral's case a sore nose. Eventually they came across a dead end. Viral, finally able to smell again, sniffed about to make sure the area was relatively abandoned before they settled in for the wait.

"Being a fugitive bites," Kimi grumbled from her corner.

"Why's that?" Viral asked more out of boredom than actual interest.

Kimi fidgeted. "It's not that I mind sleeping in alleys or scraping for food; this isn't the first time I've needed to do that," she said, and he could tell she was remembering part of her life before the war. "My problem is that I haven't done anything wrong and now I have to hide. Plus, I can't work on my ganman!" she said as though taking away her wrench was a worse punishment than going to jail, even though she couldn't have a wrench in jail anyway.

"Calm down. I'll fix this mess you've made."

She shot him an irritated look. "Gee thank you _so _much. I'm so grateful to have such an _understanding_ and _modest_ friend."

He continued to stare straight ahead and chose to ignore the word 'friend'. "You're the one who asked me for help, remember? And in the future I suggest you try to lay on the sarcasm a little less thickly."

"Or what?"

Viral answered by baring his fangs and growling.

"I knew it; alpha male complex. Fine, Great Leader, what do we do once the coast is clear?"

His usual scowl settled back onto his face. "We're going to walk," he stated. "There's a mountain range in the northeast about two days from here, and in those mountains is a bathhouse situated upon natural springs. This is the slow season so there shouldn't be too many visitors, if any at all considering how secluded the place is. That seclusion might also mean that no one will know you're wanted. The beastman who runs it owes me a favor, so I'll get her to give us transportation to at least Brush City, where we should be able to sneak onto one of those train things that run through there."

Kimi seemed to perk up a little during his explanation. "I've heard about those. They're like big long hover cars, aren't they? How do they function? I mean with that length…"

Viral tuned her out, more than a little surprised that she had latched on to 'train' instead of 'bathhouse.' Human women were so finicky about keeping clean. Alright, so female beastmen could be just as finicky, but still. Even he was eager for a bath, anything to get rid of the demon hay that was still stuck to him! And yet there she sat, ranting about how it was possible for the trains to run. Were all humans crazy, or just the ones he was forced to interact with?

She finally quit talking when her stomach rumbled. He almost forgot that she needed food on a daily basis, unlike him. It had been at least a day since she had eaten so she was probably starting to feel it. The more pressing concern, however, was that she needed water as well.

Viral stood. "Wait here," he muttered as he slunk out of the safety of the walls and went in search of food and water, despite the little voice in his head telling him to stay hidden until dark.

He tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible, a talent he had almost mastered over the past six years, despite being a one of a kind beastman in a place where few beastmen were found anyway. Most lived in Kamina City, though he had no idea why. New Littner was so much better; if only he had found it sooner he would have moved there instead of West City, he thought as he continued down the streets in search of nourishment. He spotted a fruit merchant having trouble setting up his awning. Viral grinned, or made a face that was as close to grinning as Viral could get, which looked more like a baring of teeth. It didn't get any easier.

He casually walked toward the pudgy man and lifted one end of the awning. The man smiled gratefully beneath a mustache that would have made a walrusfish jealous, and turned his back in order to secure the rope to the pole. Five pieces of the pink and green fruit were slipped underneath Viral's poncho, their disappearance unnoticed by both the merchant and the people who passed by the stand.

Once the awning was in place the man turned to thank Viral only to see the beastman's back as he walked away. The man just shrugged his shoulders and started hawking his goods, not noticing the slight decrease in the supply.

Water would be more difficult to get, which annoyed Viral. Sometimes there were places that sold it in bottles, but they more often than not had security cameras that would see him taking it. There was a river not too far from here, if he could manage to find some sort of container that would be an adequate solution.

He decided he had best drop off his current load first, before he stuffed anything else into his clothes and ran the risk of dropping something. Kimi probably couldn't eat all five pieces, especially since they were so big, but he could use a little snack himself. Even though sleep was no longer mandatory food and water were, only in lesser quantities. He only needed to replenish about once a week, and could go for two weeks without being too bothered. He knew three weeks was his limit, and that was only if he didn't need to heal too often or do something overly strenuous. It had been about a week since his last meal, so he would let Kimi eat three if she could, and then he would have the other two since he wasn't sure how much strength he would need or when their next meal would be.

He probably should have taken more, so that she would have something to nibble on during the two day walk across the desert. By two days, he had meant two days; literally the 24 hour period. It would probably take them three, depending on how often Kimi needed to rest. He was not, under any circumstances, carrying her. As little physical contact as possible was what he preferred.

Turning the last corner he nearly dropped the fruit. Where was she? He snarled mentally. He doubted that the officers had found her, or else there would have been a scene, plus he didn't smell anything that he hadn't earlier, so that meant she had walked away. Setting the fruit down so it wouldn't hinder him in his search he mentally vowed to shove it down her throat when he brought her back.

Following her scent, he was too engrossed in his scarily violent thoughts to notice that he was attracting too much attention for comfort or safety. When Viral suddenly stopped in his tracks, more than one person started and quickly left the street. She had said it was three months since she had gotten into trouble with the government. She wouldn't just randomly decide to do something stupid now, would she?

He shook his head, growled, and continued to track her with the skill of a bloodwolfhound on steroids. Her scent led him out of the city and to the river, where he found her well concealed in a little alcove, getting a drink of water. It figured.

He stood silently for a few moments, watching as he waited for her to notice he was there. She wiped her mouth on her glove then turned and saw him. She gasped then scowled.

"Why did you sneak up on me?"

Viral crossed his arms. "Why did you leave when I specifically told you to stay put?"

She shrugged, "I didn't think you would be back so soon, and I was thirsty."

Viral raised the eyebrow that wasn't covered by his hair. "Are you sure you it had nothing to do with the fact that I gave you an order?"

"Believe me, Viral, if I was really being defiant there would be no need to ask," she retorted as she stood and walked over to him. She looked him straight in the eye, and he could hear, see, and feel the challenge, and he knew that this was a warning for the future.

"I wonder just how tough you think you are?" he mused, too softly for her to hear, then turned his back on her and walked into town once again with Kimi close to his side.

When they returned to their hiding place Viral was pleased to see the fruit was still there, untouched. He offered her the three ripest and she took them, looking rather embarrassed. He assumed she felt guilty about her behavior when he had been doing something nice for her.

Not that it was really something nice. It was necessary, he told himself. If she went hungry she would complain _and _slow him down, two unforgivable things in the beastman's eyes. The only reason he cared about the slow part was because he wanted to finish his dealings with the government as quickly as possible. And he only gave her the ripe pieces because he liked the unripe ones better. Truly.

He finished eating before her and stood, gave her a look that said 'don't you dare leave again,' and left to search for something that could be used for a canteen. Eventually he happened across another food merchant selling some sort of elongated gourd. Viral knew he could hollow it out and use it to carry the water, but stealing it wouldn't be easy.

He decided to see if there was some way to distract the man into looking away for about five seconds. He approached the pudgy man, who looked remarkably like Viral's victim from just a few hours ago. Just as he was about to start chatting with the man, the merchant suddenly began sneezing. Viral was startled, but manage to get over it and steal two gourds during the sudden onslaught of mucus. Meanwhile, the poor merchant was trying to apologize to Viral between sneezes, saying that he couldn't understand why he was sneezing, as he was only allergic to hay. So it wasn't a keen sense of smell, but hay that was both a blessing and a curse.

When the unfortunate merchant sneezed on Viral then, the beastman stood frozen far a few moments. Then, he simply walked away, ignoring the merchant's loud apologies.

_Murder is bad, murder is bad, murder will get me thrown in jail_, he chanted to himself as he walked away, though he did allow himself to fantasize about how he would lift the merchant off of his feet, throw him through the nearest wall, then pounce on him and remove one of his arms from the rest of his body. The left one, Viral specified, and then he would use it to beat the man senseless, followed by rearranging the man's skeletal structure and then removing the man's intestines and using them to hang him from a flagpole by his neck…

Kimi waved her hand in front of his face. "Viral?"

"Something wrong?" he asked, wiping away the sadistic grin.

She just looked at him for a few moments. "Never mind," she said, sounding as though she really did mind but had no desire to push the issue. She returned he attention to the now water filled gourds, tracing her fingertips along the grooves of the yellow vegetables. Content that she would remain quiet for the next hour or so Viral went back to his gory daydream.

As the sun finally started to set, Kimi stood. "I think I ought to check around town to see if we can't find a ride that will take us at least partway through the desert."

Viral stood as well. "No. We are leaving now and we are stopping as little as possible until we get to the Quarter Moon."

"But the sun's going down, and you aren't nocturnal," she said in a confused tone.

He supposed it was time to tell her about his "improvements."

"Lordgenome made me an immortal body."

Kimi just stared at him. "Your sense of humor sucks," she deadpanned.

He growled at both being insulted and not being believed. "I'm serious; I'm immortal now. Whereas a normal beastman's body needs to be replaced every 40 years or so, save for the four generals, my body never wears down. I can heal any injury I receive automatically. I no longer need sleep, and I barely require any food. Lordgenome made me this way so that I could see the fall of humankind and live to tell the tale throughout the centuries, even though I have no idea who I would tell it to in the event humankind does fall."

During his explanation she grew somber and believed his tale. She knew it wasn't outside of Lordgenome's abilities to create a body like that.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, looking at him with pity.

Viral hated pity. He hated it almost as much as he hated the grinning bastard. "Sorry? Why in the hell would you be sorry?"

She flinched at the venom in his voice. "Being immortal, it must be hard. You know, since you'll have to watch anyone you care about die."

The anger didn't leave Viral's face. "It isn't hard, it won't be hard, because I don't really care about anyone and I never will. I might not dislike you, but you certainly aren't important enough to spend the rest of my existence mourning."

He was hoping she would be offended and start arguing with him, but her expression remained the same. If anything there was more pity.

"I may not be the person you miss the most, but someday you will want to have a bond with someone, and when they pass you'll feel the loneliness."

She turned her back to him and proceeded to head northeast out of the city, leaving him with no clue as to what she was really thinking.


	4. Fun in the sun?

For anyone actually following this, sorry about the long break. Enjoy this crappy travel scene as compensation. :D

P.S. I do not own Gurren Lagann. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this fanfiction.

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><p>They walked in silence. They had a night and day of travel under their belts and the sun was beginning to set on the first half of their journey. Kimi didn't complain or falter, despite the fact that this was her 12th hour without food, and she had only taken an hour of sleep the night before, with two small 15 minute breaks as well. Humans were fragile, Viral, but Kimi was obviously tougher than most. She had dark clothes, sunburn, and things were only going to get worse tomorrow, but she continued on, not asking for anything. He knew she was well aware that they had to get across this portion of the Guame Desert before they ran out of water, and that they were already more than halfway through the supply.<p>

Once they reached the Quarter Moon he would give her a few days to rest. It was a nice place, much nicer now that it was under the management of the former owner's sister, a marginally less insane wolf by the name of Aria.

Viral adjusted his poncho uncomfortably. He had lied to Kimi when he said the owner owed him a favor. In all reality she was sweet on him and would have done almost anything he asked. She probably would have given them a personal escort to Kamina City if he wanted her to. Hell, she probably would be willing to give them a personal escort to Kamina City even if he _didn't_ want her to. He wasn't looking forward to seeing her again. She was pretty, and she was a beastman, but he had no special feelings for her, and he hated how attached she was. _Desperate times call for desperate measures_, he thought tiredly, and sometimes desperate women did too.

Kimi stumbled, but managed to keep herself from falling. She looked tired and unfocused, and her sunburn probably stung. He would just have to deal with Aria for a few days so the unfortunate woman had adequate time to recover.

She didn't look like she had the strength to talk, but maybe a conversation would distract her from her misery. "Kimi?"

"Hm?"

The sun had finally set, and the cool of night was a welcome relief from the heat, even for the hardy beastman.

"How did you survive?"

She considered for a moment. She knew he wasn't referring to her current stint on the lam. "By doing the same thing I'm doing now. I just kept walking until I found some villagers out foraging for food."

"They took you in? A random girl wandering through the desert?"

Kimi actually managed to snort. "It's not like I was diseased, just tired and hungry. They put me to work, made me earn my food and shelter. Once I started getting into mechanics, though, it was easy. I started with guns and made my way up to ganmen."

"Speaking of ganmen, how did you get Enkinex?"

"I found it in the desert before I found the village. I remembered where it was and went back once I had a few tools in my possession. Enkinex was the first ganman I fixed, and even though it was such a bizarre model, it was good practice for fixing other ganmen."

She looked happy at that memory, as if repairing a broken piece of junk had been the happiest moment of her life. The sad part was that it probably _was_ the highlight of her life. Not that there was anything wrong with taking pride in hard work, but still…

With that topic as exhausted as her, they continued to walk in silence for a few more hours. Kimi nearly tripped two more times, but kept going until Viral stopped and asked "Do you need to rest?"

She walked past him before replying "If I sit down now I won't be getting back up for a long time, longer than we have before the water runs out."

So they continued into the sunrise without speaking. Viral was once again impressed, this time by her tenacity, though he would rather have a dozen root canals than admit it. She had a strong will to live, and she wasn't going to let a little heat get the best of her. If his body wasn't self-healing then the heat from the sun coupled with his fur would have had him sleeping the entire day and only walking by night. Yet as the sun rose she continued to walk, looking closer and closer to the point of collapse with every minute that passed.

"Viral?"

He was so startled to hear her speak in such a rough, dry voice that _he_ nearly tripped. He knew what she was asking, and handed her the pseudo-canteen. She only took two small sips before handing it back to him. She was seriously dehydrated, he knew, and he was surprised at her self-control.

"We'll be there tonight. Think about it, we're already three fourths of the way there," he encouraged.

She smiled, and then winced, and Viral saw a droplet of blood form on her lower lip. She didn't bother to lick it, afraid that her chapped lips would crack further.

"Drink more," he ordered, offering her the gourd yet again. She looked as though she wanted to refuse, but gave in and drank half of what was left. The gourd was a quarter full now, and he hoped it would last. It was rather unfortunate that humans were so delicate.

Viral could spot the mountains now, they were getting close. "Only four more hours," he lied, knowing that they were slowing down and it would take longer, but perhaps the hope would keep her moving. Certainly, during his interactions with other humans, he found that hope was often more motivating than threats of violence.

His plan worked, for a while. A soon as they reached the base of the mountain, though, her legs seemed to give out. She stumbled on the now rocky terrain and had a hell of a time getting back up. Viral had to help her stand, and then acted as a support as they continued up the mountain path, all while trying to touch her as little as possible. At least there was some shade and a cool breeze, Viral thought. Kimi needed it; she looked so pale. How someone could be bright red from sunburn and still manage to look sickly pale was beyond him. What was she, a kaleidoscope?

He gave her what was left of the water. They still had another hour, and Kimi was doing her best not to lean on him entirely. He caved and lifted her into his arms, resting her body in the crooks of his elbows and not even touching her with his hands. It amazed him that she still had enough strength to quietly protest, despite having no food, no sleep, no breaks, and not nearly enough water in the past two days. He was also surprised at how light she was.

She was out cold by the time he reached the bathhouse.

Viral kicked open the sliding door, almost knocking it out of its track. The receptionist, a Bunny-beastman, started to yell at him when she noticed what he was carrying.

"This woman needs medical attention. We've been walking through the desert for the past two days," he explained in an even tone.

"Oh my goodness! Come with me!" the female beastman trilled hurriedly as she hopped over her desk and scampered out of the room with Viral right behind her.


	5. Bath Bonanza pt1

Had some free time, thought I should add a new chapter.

P.S. I don't own Gurren Lagann. If I did, I know the Black Sibling's REAL backstory

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><p>She felt cold. There was something cold and slimy on her skin. It felt sort of nice, really, but something about this situation was wrong. She tried to remember what had happened. She and Viral reached the mountains and then she had passed out. They must be at the bathhouse.<p>

Satisfied with this conclusion, she decided it was time to open her eyes and figure out what the heck was all over her. When she managed to focus her gaze all she saw were razor sharp teeth…

Viral walked to one end of the room and back again. The receptionist, although sympathetic toward him, considering the condition of the person she assumed was his mate, she was getting a little irritated by the rut that he was going to make in the floor if he kept it up.

"I'm sure she'll be fine. Why don't you have a seat while you wait for Miss Aria?"

"I'm not worried," he snorted. "Just bored and irritated."

Sympathy gone, the Bunny-beastman wondered if she should try to _force_ him to stay still. Luckily for her, Miss Aria came through the door. Aria was a lavender colored wolf, and was considered quite beautiful by beastmen standards. Especially her large fanged smile, which broke out on her face the moment she spotted Viral.

"Ah, my darling Viral," she practically purred. "It's been too long."

She held out her hand and Viral took it and kissed it, despite the fact that he would rather swallow his own tongue. "It has been a long time." _But not long enough_, he thought.

"So, what brings you to my humble abode?"

"My… traveling companion and I are traveling to Kamina City. She fell ill during our trek through the desert, and while she recuperates I was going to look into our travel options." He had purposely called Kimi a traveling companion in order to keep Aria in a good mood. If she thought Viral was no longer single it would put a damper on his whole plan, and Kimi would have suffered for nothing.

He shouldn't have been so hasty in forcing her to cross the desert, but he had assumed that if she had survived once, she could do it again. He knew she would live, but the journey had to have been tough on her.

"Oh my, a sick friend?"

"Yes," the receptionist put her two cents in. "She's being treated as we speak."

"Wonderful. Your… traveling companion is in good hands, I assure you. So then, why don't you tell me about your reason for this trip to Kamina City?" Aria pried.

Viral was about to tell her a lie about visiting some old comrades when he heard muffled thuds coming from down the hall where he had taken Kimi. Apparently the two female beastmen heard it as well because their ears perked up. Viral went down the hall, not quite running but not walking either, as he listened for either more thumps or shouts of pain, with Aria and the receptionist right behind him. He heard neither when they finally reached the room. He knocked first, and a pair of groans was his answer.

He opened the door, took in the scene, and averted his eyes in a surprisingly modest gesture. Kimi was on the ground next to an overturned bed, on her back, in a puddle of some sort of pink cream, naked, save for another Bunny-beastman sprawled across her stomach, managing to strategically cover the woman's 'parts.' They both looked as though they had knocked their heads, as they were rubbing the backs of their skulls and taking a long time to notice they had company.

"Oh my!" The Bunny-beastman seemed to come to her senses first and blushed when she realized what was happening.

Kimi wasn't far behind. "Hey!" she shouted at the three beastmen in the doorway. "What are you doing?"

Viral made eye contact with her. "Checking to see whether or not you were alive. Next time I'll just make a best guess."

She suddenly realized she was naked and turned even redder. It was then that he noticed her sunburn seemed to look a little better. "Get out!" she shouted at Viral, hurting his ears, and probably everyone else's as well.

He did as he was told, leaving the females to do whatever the hell they wanted. He was going to take a bath.

He thought about the last time he had visited the hot springs of the Quarter Moon as he slid into the hot spring. Aria had decided to keep him company. He hoped that this time Kimi would prove to be enough of a distraction to keep the Wolf away from him.

"Viral." No such luck. The universe hated him.

"Yes, Aria?" he said, turning his head to look at her over the rocky edge of the pool.

"Dinner is almost ready. Oh and your… friend is doing much better," she added as though it was a minor detail. Viral sighed inwardly. Aria was jealous of a human when there was no reason to be jealous.

"Thank you for telling me. I'll be there in just a minute."

She frowned a little, but left without saying anything else. He figured she was hoping he would get out right then so she could see him naked. There was something about this bathhouse where the word 'naked' seemed to be used even more often than it should.

At least it seemed no one here knew that Kimi was a fugitive. Viral: 1, universe: 6,934

He stood, grabbed his towel and dried himself off. No longer soaking wet, he put on a black robe he had taken from behind the front desk after dropping off his clothes in the laundry, and went back into the building, following his nose to the food. Kimi was there already, sitting near the head of the table, looking highly uncomfortable in a lavender silk robe. Her sunburn was probably bothering her.

He ignored her plight in favor of the feast. Aria always fed her guests well, but this was a special occasion; Viral was visiting. Therefore she had a veritable feast with every kind of meat Viral could imagine, and several he couldn't. While he didn't need food, he could still enjoy it, and boy was he going to enjoy this.

"What happened earlier?" he asked as he sat across from her and tried not to drool despite the tantalizing scent.

Kimi tried not to blush. "Vive startled me. I tried to move off of the bed and ended up slipping on that sunburn cream. Then Vive slipped and fell on me."

Viral snorted, as much as in humor as trying to not breathe in the tempting scent of cured meat. "No wonder you two looked so ridiculous. And you naked, no less"

Kimi looked pissed. "Were you trying to get a peek?"

"Don't flatter yourself," he said, eyeing a particularly juicy hunk of grapehippo meat. "You're too bald to be attractive."

Kimi just gaped; opening and closing her mouth like a low IQ Fish-beastman, as Viral finally selected a few choice pieces of flesh and began to eat. He took large bites and ate quickly, yet his table manners were impeccable, and he never once got food anywhere but his mouth.

Eventually Kimi regained her composure and put a slice of meat on her plate as well as a piece of fruit. She ate slowly, almost as though she was forcing herself. Viral slowed as he watched her. It would be a while before she could eat a full size meal again, and it was a little cruel that she had a whole mountain in front of her that she couldn't have. He was just grateful he didn't need to tell her not to overdo it.

"Um, excuse me," came a small voice.

Viral turned to the door he had walked through to see the Bunny-beastman from the fiasco earlier, Vive, as Kimi had called her, entering the room. She had a tray with a glass of clear liquid and two purple pills on it. She walked over to Kimi and set the tray down.

"You need to drink all of this, and the pills are for the pain."

Kimi sighed. "Thank you," she said, turning toward Vive with a small smile.

Vive blushed and lowered her head shyly. "You're welcome," she said before she scurried off.

Kimi grimaced, but took the pills followed by a few sips of the beverage.

"What are you making that face for? It's just water," Viral said, resuming his earlier pace.

"No, it's not. I have no idea what it is, but I've had to drink it all day, and it's disgusting."

Not bothering to ask like a civilized being, Viral reached across the table and snatched the glass from her hands, being especially careful not to touch her. Swirling it around a few times in order to look for impurities and finding none, he lifted it to his nose to take a sniff. He nearly gagged, and quickly handed it back to her as his nose started to sting even worse than her sunburn.

"Oh for the love of- WHY DIDN'T YOU WARN ME?" he snapped as his nose continued to burn as though he had snorted a whole gallon of saltwater.

"I told you it was gross. Did you assume I was only talking about the taste?" she smirked, her revenge for being called ugly complete.

He just growled at her. Just thinking about how the foul drink likely tasted made him queasy. Even with her dull human senses it still had to be nasty. Viral suddenly wasn't sure if she was tough as much as masochistic.

Finally the pain went away and he resumed eating, completely ignoring the human. Aria walked in just as he was polishing off the last of three raccoonbirds.

"I trust everything is to your liking?" she asked, also ignoring Kimi.

Viral just nodded since his mouth was full, but Kimi was a little more expressive. "Yes, Miss Aria, everything is wonderful, and I'm very grateful you are taking such good care of us."

Viral didn't miss the bite in her words, and neither did their hostess. She simply smiled and said sarcastically "Good. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to meet your human standards."

He had a feeling that this was going to be a long visit.

"Aria," he cut in before the insults could fly in earnest. "When does your supply van head to Brush City?"

The female beastman blinked, a little surprised by the abrupt question. "Er, it leaves at the end of the week. Why do you need to know?"

_Three days, damn_. "If you don't mind, Kimi and I would like to hitch a ride."

"Oh," she said, leveling a look at her inaccurately labeled rival. "…No, I don't mind at all." She certainly sounded like she did. She and Kimi glared at each other for a moment.

Viral wanted to bury his face in his hands. This was tanking faster than his career had.

He yawned intentionally, making the sound as loud as he could. Aria still had no clue that he was nocturnal now, so hopefully that would buy him a few hours of piece.

"I'll show you to your room, then. You must be rather tired after such a long and arduous journey filled with such burdens," she said fussily, looking directly at Kimi as she said 'burdens.'

Viral was relieved when Kimi kept her mouth shut and stood. He was surprised when he realized how short her robe was. Another jab by Aria, no doubt.

"Vive will show you to your room," Aria told the human woman dismissively. "Right this way, Viral," she added sweetly, leading him out of the room. He correctly assumed they would be at opposite ends of the building, and that his room would be about 100 times better than hers.

The two beastmen left and Kimi waited for Vive to hop back into the room.

"Follow me please," the Bunny said as she led Kimi to a far corner of the building.

They walked quietly, and Vive kept her head down. Kimi noticed that the beastman was blushing as well as fidgeting. The poor creature looked like a nervous wreck.

"Are you alright?" Kimi asked, causing Vive to jump three feet into the air. Once she came back down she looked up at Kimi and blushed harder.

"I'm fine. Thank you for your concern," she practically whispered.

A minute later and they arrived at Kimi's room. It was small, and had only a bed, but Kimi couldn't have cared less, so long as there were no pests skulking underneath the single blanket.

"Um, if you need anything please don't hesitate to ask," Vive mumbled and scurried away before Kimi could thank her.

Now alone, Kimi lay on top of the blanket and stared out the window. She wondered what Viral and that Wolf were doing. She heard a howl and abruptly stopped wondering, preferring not to be mentally scarred for life. She easily made herself comfortable and fell asleep, forcing herself to think of snow and other cool things instead of the churning in her stomach.


	6. Bath Bonanza pt2

For all (like, 3) of my loyal fans, I have decided to upload another chapter as an apology for not updating as often as I said I would.

P.S. I do not own Gurren Lagann. If I did, there would be a guest appearance by the demon hay cart.

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><p>The next morning Vive brought her a new robe; the correct size this time, and a small container of cream.<p>

"This will help with the peeling," the Bunny explained.

Kimi must have been scratching during the night, because her skin was flaking severely wherever it was burned. Which was everywhere.

"Thanks, Vive. Could you get my back?"

"Umm, certainly," Vive replied, blushing as Kimi turned and slipped her too small robe off. The beastman carefully and gently applied the ointment to Kimi's back while the human covered her lower thighs, upper arms, and hands. She hurt like hell, especially her fingers, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. The fact that Vive was being so helpful made things a lot easier as well.

"Finished," Vive muttered. "Breakfast will be ready soon. Would you like to eat in your room?" she asked.

Kimi thought about it. Viral would probably harass her about not being able to handle a little sunburn if she just stayed in her room. Not that she could bathe in the hot springs, but she could at least put in an appearance for meals.

At length she replied, "No thanks, I'll just eat with everyone else."

Vive nodded and led her back to the dining room. Apparently everyone else consisted of Viral, as there seemed to be no other guests. Kimi had just assumed that they had eaten to late last night in order to see anyone, but now she realized that there was no one else _to_ see.

"Hey, Viral. Have a good night?" she asked as she sat down in the same spot as the previous night.

He most certainly did not have a good night. Aria had spent the remainder of the evening and then a good portion of the morning practically trying to molest him. He didn't know why he had come to breakfast instead of hiding in the mountains, because after that fiasco he had no appetite. He wanted to rip off his ears and carve his eyes out after what had happened last night and this morning. Kimi had better f**king appreciate what he was putting up with for her sake!

Instead of telling her a horror story that would surely take the red color off of her skin, he replied "Fine. Better than you, from the look of things," he sneered. "You look like a Snake-beastman during molting season."

Half tempted to throw the plate of eggs that was sitting on the table at his face, Kimi wondered whether or not she was better off on her own. Viral obviously had no real desire to help her, and he wasn't really getting anything out of this. She knew why she asked him to come along, and she knew she would miss his company, but she still wondered.

Viral noticed the thoughtful look settling on her features. Her brows furrowed, her lips curved into a frown, and her eyes seemed to focus inward. She was pondering something upsetting, and he wanted to know why. The expression didn't suit her at all, not when she used to be all smiles and laughter.

Viral grabbed the wistful thought and choked it in a stranglehold, beating its head against the confines of his mind. He did not care if she had learned the hard way just how harsh life could be. All he cared about was getting her to Kamina City and getting as much entertainment out of it as possible. That was it.

"Are you trying to burn a hole through the table? Just eat," Viral grumbled, shaking Kimi out of her pensive state. She glowered at him and did as she was told, managing a little more than yesterday before she finally quit.

"So, what are your plans for the day?" she asked conversationally as she swallowed her last bite. She noticed Viral hadn't eaten anything, and hoped he was suffering from a stomachache after the way he had eaten the night before.

"Dunno."

"Is there anything to do here besides bathe?"

He shrugged. "I've never stuck around long enough to find out." Regret washed over him the moment the words were out of his mouth. He knew exactly what she was going to ask.

"Why is that?"

He mentally slapped his forehead. "I was usually too busy to stay for an extended period."

"Is that so? Then what do you plan to do for three days? Sleep? Somehow I don't think our hostess would appreciate that," she teased; although she regretted it when Viral gave her a look that said 'I will bite out your jugular and dance in a pool of your blood_.'_ The look quickly disappeared and was replaced by his normal scowl.

"That's her problem."

"Right," she replied nervously, her skin about three shades paler than before.

"Is that what _you_ plan on doing? Sleeping?" He sure as hell hoped not. She might be his ticket for getting away from Aria. Not that he would make it seem as though he cared either way.

She lifted her arms over her head and stretched her back. "Maybe for a while. I bet Vive could find something that I could do," she added.

Before either of them could say anything else Aria walked into the room, looking slightly miffed. Kimi had no idea why, and she wasn't going to stick around to find out.

"Good morning, Miss Aria. Breakfast was lovely, especially the eggs. I'd like to compare recipes with your chef later if you don't mind, and now I think I should go rest for a little while," the girl commented so quickly that even Viral had a hard time keeping up. By the time he realized that she was ditching him she was already halfway out the door. Now alone with Aria, Viral gulped. The Wolf, on the other hand, seemed pleased, judging by the grin that spread across her face. Viral would have revenge for this, he swore.

Right before she could speak, though, the receptionist came in and said, "We have more guests, Ma'am. They would like to speak with you."

If Viral had been anyone except Viral he would have kissed the receptionist. Of course, if he were anyone except Viral he wouldn't have to deal with all of this bullshit anyway. Talk about an identity crisis.

Aria humphed, "Very well. Don't worry, Viral, darling, I won't be gone too long."

He prayed she would be gone long enough, though. The moment she and the receptionist were gone he took off, running out of the building and past the main hot springs. He climbed a ridge and looked around, spotting a path along which he could walk to a spring that was far away enough to guarantee him some privacy. He hopped off of the ridge and walked along the rough terrain, noticing that his bare feet would get cut on a sharp rock every now and again. He walked a little more carefully, not because he cared about being hurt when he could easily heal himself, but his blood would leave a scent trail, and really, that would defeat the whole purpose of coming out here if he made himself easy to locate.

When he finally made it to the spring he tossed his robe on the ground and gracefully slid in. This spring was unusually hot, and in fact almost hot enough to boil him alive, but he liked it. The sting was a welcome sensation, and if he burned his body would just heal itself. Ah, the benefits of being immortal!

He found a ledge to sit on, and rested the back of his head on the edge of the pool, so he could look at the sky. The mountain sky was always perfectly blue, and the air was fresh, crisp, and clean. If it wasn't for the poor company, he would have spent a lot more time here. His eyes closed, and he allowed his mind to wander. Unfortunately his mind eventually happened to wander to those damn naked apes and their pet hairball.

He sat up and shook his head. When he noticed where the sun had moved to he scowled. He had wanted some alone time, but he hadn't meant to be gone practically the whole day. He hoisted himself out of the water and shook himself dry, since due to his panic and lack of foresight he had failed to bring a towel. Satisfied that he was as dry as he was going to get he put his robe back on and headed to the bathhouse.

Mentally prepared for whatever was going to happen once he stepped inside, he opened the front door. It wasn't enough. A naked human male was suddenly rocketed toward him at a high speed. Viral fell, the man's crotch landing directly on his face.

"And stay out!" a woman screeched. She sounded mad. But she wasn't nearly as mad as Viral.

He literally threw the man 100 meters; 99 meters toward the nearest mountainside, and one meter _into_ the mountainside. Then he turned around and stormed into the main lobby, ready to disembowel Kimi for hurling a man's junk into his face. He knew she did it, he could tell by that frightened and guilty look on her face. He raised his left hand and was about to bring it down to give her a good smack.

"Stop!"

Viral was frozen.

"She was protecting me!" Vive explained as she put herself between Kimi and Viral. Viral just looked down at the Bunny. She looked terrified out of her wits, but obviously Kimi was more important than self-preservation. He sneered at the display of courage coming from such a pathetically scared creature. Not bothering to reply, he lowered his arm and left the two alone, deciding to just go to his room.

Once he was in his room he sat down on the king size bed and stared at the hand he had almost used to hit Kimi. The pads would have been abrasive on her sensitive skin, and his claws probably would have taken out her eye. Those two wouldn't have noticed, but he had stopped moving to strike her before Vive had told him to. He wouldn't have hit Kimi. True, she managed to push the wrong buttons and make him mad, but he never would have hit her. Threaten her, insult her, push _her_ buttons, yes; but he wouldn't have hit her. He held his left hand with his right. It made no difference if she liked him personally, but he needed her trust and cooperation if they were going to expose whatever Rossiu was planning.

It was dark already, so no one would expect him to be awake. He slipped out of his room and quietly made his way down the halls, following her scent. When he finally reached her room he knocked gently, thinking she would still be awake. Receiving no reply he slid the door open slightly and saw her lying on her bed. Thinking she might be faking he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

"Kimi. Kimi?"

He approached her bed, which was illuminated by the moonlight streaming in from the window. She was lying flat on her back, barely breathing. At first he thought something was wrong, but when she shifted and scratched her arm he let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. It looked like she truly was asleep.

He studied her in the moonlight. She looked terrible; pale and red with purple underneath her eyes, her skin flaking in various places. At least she had gotten a bath; he could smell the soap on her skin and see that the oil had been washed from her hair. Vive had probably helped her. The Bunny-beastman seemed oddly attached to Kimi.

She shifted and groaned in her sleep. Her back had to be chafing.

He should have just toughed it out and stayed in the demon hay cart. They would both be better off if he had just ignored the complaints of his nose.

He considered tapping her on the shoulder to wake her. She had plenty of time to catch up on her sleep, but Viral knew he had best explain himself sooner rather than later. Not apologize; _explain._ He didn't do apologies.

He reached out, but just before he could tap her his body froze. The moonlight glinted off of his wicked claws, and he retracted his hand back into the shadows. He left, not seeing another figure come around the opposite corner, not hearing Kimi's door slide open once again.


	7. Bath Bonanza pt3

I just happened to check my e-mail, and was surprised to find that somebody actually cares about this story. So, for Madii's sake, her is the conclusion of the Bathhouse Arc.

P.S. I do not own Gurren Lagann. If I did, the sequel series would have Bruce Ironstaunches as a main character.

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><p>The moment he thought Kimi would be awake he returned to her room only to see she wasn't there. He went to the dining hall, the lobby, he even checked the hot springs, but he couldn't find her. Quite frankly he started getting suspicious the moment he realized she wasn't in her room, because her scent was too faded, but he didn't start jumping to conclusions until he had checked each and every hot spring.<p>

"Have you seen Kimi?" he asked the receptionist, trying not to sound worried or suspicious.

"No, sir, but perhaps Vive knows," said the nameless receptionist.

That was another thing. Viral hadn't seen Vive either. And now that he was thinking about it, he hadn't seen Aria since yesterday. He could understand Vive going somewhere with Kimi, but not Aria suddenly leaving him alone. This whole situation screamed 'bad.' In fact, a lot of things screamed 'bad,' but since when the hell did Viral get the chance to avoid those kinds of things? It would be the apocalypse if his life went right for once.

He started sniffing around, trying to find either of the two female beastmen, when he caught Vive's scent. Following it into the laundry room, he saw Vive carefully fold Kimi's clothes and set them into a basket. Her back was to him, and so he had the element of surprise.

"Where's Kimi?" he demanded as he made sure he was blocking the only exit.

Vive screamed and fell into the basket. She was shaking so hard Viral wondered if her brain was rattled.

"Well?" he snarled when she still refused to speak.

"I," she squeaked. "I don't know!"

She looked as though she was about to start crying. Sadly, Viral had no sympathy for those who lied to him. "Then where are you taking her clothes?" he growled maliciously.

The Bunny whimpered, but finally found some morsel of courage somewhere in her trembling body and managed to say, "She's better off where she is now! You were going to hurt her!"

He frowned. "So you think you're protecting her? Tell me, does she know what you're doing?"

His suddenly calm tone frightened her even more than the snarling, but she managed to squeak out, "Yes."

"And did she seem pleased? Was she happy to get away from me and go wherever it is you took her?"

Vive thought to say 'no,' but Kimi was just scared, she reasoned. Kimi thought Viral would find her and hurt her, and that was why she hadn't wanted to leave. She just wasn't used to the idea of being free. Miss Aria had convinced Vive of this last night.

"Was she?" Viral prompted again.

"I- I don't know."

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I need to find her, Vive."

"No!" the Bunny practically shrieked. "You'll hurt her!"

He looked her straight in the eye. "I would never hit her. Even if you hadn't stopped me, I would never have done it."

The two beastmen stared at each other before he spoke again, "I'm responsible for her. I need to find her." He could only chalk up his word choice to a lingering feeling that thing's hadn't changed between himself and Kimi since he had last seen her all those years ago.

Vive blushed and looked away. His amber eyes were too genuine for her to continue to believe that Kimi was in danger. Aria was the one who had lied. It really was fortunate for Viral that the Bunny was so simple-minded.

"Come with me," she said, extricating herself from the basket. She led him to the kitchen where she pushed aside the refrigerator. Viral sweat dropped when he realized this Bunny wasn't as much of a pushover as he originally thought. They headed down the secret path lit by candles until they reached a door with a padlock.

Viral was getting anxious. He still couldn't smell her, and his instincts were screaming that something was wrong with this situation. Tensed in preparation for a trap, he waited as Vive pulled a key out of her cleavage and unlocked the door. It swung open to reveal a room similar to the guest rooms. An empty guest room.

"What? No, she was in here this morning! Where is she?" The Bunny was on the verge of tears and was looking at Viral desperately, as though he had the answers.

He snarled, "Aria."

They ran up the steps and out of the kitchen without bothering to close the passage behind them. They went straight to Aria's empty room. Vive hesitated, but Viral barged right in and started to check the walls and floor on the off chance that if there was one secret room in this bathhouse, there might be a second. Vive soon got over her hesitation and joined him, and after a few moments she discovered a loose portion of the floor. She lifted it to reveal another hidden staircase, though this one wasn't lit. He didn't need the light but Vive's eyes weren't as strong, so she kept one hand on his back as they descended as quickly as they could without tripping.

After about a minute they spotted a light at the end of the tunnel and he began to move faster. Vive struggled to keep the pace. Her feet were meant for hopping, not running. Then they heard it; a loud crack followed by a grunt of pain. There was blood. He could finally smell Kimi, and she smelled like blood.

He rushed forward, leaving the Bunny behind completely, and burst into a dungeon-esque room, complete with chains, prisoner, and whip-wielding jail keeper. Kimi was kneeling on the floor with her back to him, her hands chained above her head. Her robe was shredded and was stuck to her skin by her blood, which was dying the lavender silk red. Aria stood over her, the whip raised to deliver another blow. He grabbed her hand and ripped the whip out of it before she could do so.

"Viral?" she questioned, completely surprised as she managed to pull out of his grip. She had been enjoying the smell of the wretched girl's blood too much to notice that she had uninvited company. "Vive," she hissed as the Bunny finally made her entrance.

Vive gasped when she saw what was happening. "You monster!" she shrieked at Aria, hitting a note that no one in the room enjoyed.

"I was only giving her what she deserved," the Wolf explained nervously as the two other beastmen advanced on her. Suddenly she regained her calm, just before her back hit the wall. "Do you like my little dungeon, Viral? I had hoped we could do some role playing here, but it seems that will have to wait for another time." She grinned evilly.

While his stomach was busy churning Viral tried to figure out why Aria was composed all of a sudden. He heard a creak above his head and saw her reaching for one of the candles.

He managed to shove Vive aside just before the axe fell.

"Viral!" Vive shrieked.

Kimi, who hadn't bothered to turn around because she assumed she would be saved, now moved her head and saw Viral over her shoulder. She freaked when she saw that his legs had been sliced from the knee down. He was losing so much blood!

Viral snarled. Just because he was immortal didn't mean it didn't f**king hurt! Even as his legs began to regenerate, much to the horror of the female beastmen, (because even Vive was frightened of the self-healing freak), it was still excruciating. Gritting his teeth, he stood once his feet were back in their rightful place, ignoring the lingering jolts of pain as the nerves finished reattaching.

"Care to try that again?" he asked in a deceptively calm voice. When Aria shook her head, Viral smirked. "I didn't think so." He tugged on the whip still in his hands, making a satisfying cracking noise. Aria gulped.

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><p>The truck driver, a muscle bound Bunny-beastman by the name of Butch, waited patiently for his unusual cargo to be loaded into the back of his vehicle. He checked the rearview mirror. From the look of things they were wrapping up their conversation.<p>

"You don't need to worry about anything; I'm going to run the Quarter Moon the right way, now that Aria's taken off. What did you do to her anyway?" asked the formerly-nameless receptionist, currently- nameless owner.

Viral shrugged his shoulders. "She just ran off." He seriously wasn't lying. She had literally bolted, hopefully never to be seen again.

Kimi sat on the bed of the truck, her legs dangling off of the edge. The two Bunnies had given her some bedding so that she could rest and recover, but Brush City was three days away, and she didn't feel like resting just yet.

"Good riddance," she snapped. Viral was surprised that she was feeling so energetic after the week she had. "Where's Vive?"

No one knew, but the two of them needed to be on their way. Viral hopped into the back of the truck and stood beside Kimi.

"Can you tell her I said goodbye?" she asked the owner.

The Bunny nodded, but just then Vive came around the corner of the bathhouse and walked over to them.

"Hey, Vive!" Kimi smiled.

Vive smiled back and blushed as well. Then she did something rather unexpected. Even the nameless owner, who had worked with Vive for years, did not see it coming.

The Bunny went up to Kimi and kissed her full on the lips, briefly.

"I love you."

"What?" Kimi flipped. Viral and the owner could only gape.

"I know you're straight, and I know you're a human, but I still love you," the Bunny mumbled shyly.

Butch couldn't see anyone in his rearview mirror anymore, so he assumed they were finished and started the truck.

No one said anything until the van started moving. "Bye," was all Kimi managed before the vehicle turned a corner and the Quarter Moon vanished from sight. She slid into the truck the rest of the way and Viral wordlessly pulled the top down, shutting them into their own little mobile room. It was about twenty seconds later when he burst out in laughter, startling Butch and making him swerve.

Viral laughed and laughed and laughed. He was gasping for air and his sides felt as though they were being ripped apart. Kimi punched him in the arm, hard, but all it did was make him howl with even more merriment. He had never, in his entire existence, laughed this hard. He was helplessly rolling on the floor, clutching his stomach. Oh, the look on Kimi's face had been priceless!

Kimi sulked in the corner while he enjoyed himself at her expense. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of yelling at him and therefore revealing exactly how upset she was. It wasn't as though she was angry at Vive or hated lesbians, but that had been plain humiliating. She would have gladly spent an extra hour or two in the dungeon if she could have avoided being embarrassed like that.

She sighed and lay on her stomach with her head resting on her arms, facing away from him. The truck bounced and it hurt her chest, even with the bedding, but lying on her back was out of the question. It wouldn't have been so bad if the stupid Wolf hadn't managed to hit her sunburn every freaking time.

Viral finally managed to calm down after about ten minutes or so. He turned his head to see Kimi on her stomach. She had fallen asleep, and her body had shifted into a more comfortable position, her head turning to face him. Her breathing was light and even, but she looked far from peaceful. With every bounce of the truck she winced. It seemed more like she had passed out than fallen asleep. Yet not once, even when Vive had washed her wounds with iodine, had she shouted or complained about how much pain she was certainly feeling.

He flipped onto his stomach as well, ignoring the blankets that the Bunnies had provided for him, and made himself comfortable on the hard floor facing Kimi. As he watched her, he started to drift into his restful state. This time his eyes stayed open as his mind shut down for the most part. He needed to react quickly if she started to show signs of a fever. Even though the Bunnies had properly cleaned and dressed the wound, there was still a chance of infection. He had a first aid kit, just in case, but he hoped it would be unnecessary.

He was going to take better care of her from now on, he silently promised as the truck carried them closer to their next destination.


	8. Drumroll, please

We shall be meeting some real _characters _this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gurren Lagann. If I did, I would uncover the secret of Leeron's eternal youth 0_0

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><p>Un-freaking-believable. The truck <em>had<em> to run out of gas the day prior, and they _had_ to walk the rest of the way to Brush City only to find that the trains were undergoing maintenance and upgrades, and wouldn't be running for another few weeks. Swell.

Kimi, sporting a new coat of not-so-severe sunburn, sat underneath a tree outside the train depot with her knees tucked into her chest as she waited for Viral to finish yelling at the unfortunate crew. The beastman finally reappeared and sat down next to her.

"Any luck?"

"What do you think?" he snapped.

She sighed and shook her head, "I guess we better find a place to hide before someone spots me."

"Yeah," he grumbled.

They wandered the streets, keeping hidden in the evening shadows while they searched for a suitable place to plan their next move. Or rather, Viral looked for a hiding place while Kimi stared, fascinated, at the railcars that whizzed past them in both directions. _She gets excited over the weirdest crap_, he thought.

After managing to drag her away from the railcars he found an abandoned ganman hangar near the edge of town, which excited her even more.

"How could people just leave all of these parts behind? Ooh, I can't believe there's a-"

Viral tuned her out. It was just easier that way. He observed their temporary hideout. It was extremely spacious, and also messy. There were dozens of ganmen parts on the floor, rails, walkways, and even a few pieces hanging precariously from the high ceiling. It was a little odd how the parts were arranged, and even more unusual that they had been left behind in the first place. The final nail in the coffin was that some of the parts had less dust on them than others. Perhaps the place wasn't completely abandoned, but hardly used.

He sneezed when a cloud of dust that Kimi had created flew up his nose. Hardly used would have to do. They weren't going to find anywhere that was better. Besides, now that they were there he would have a hell of a time trying to get Kimi away from all of the useless junk. He walked up a set of stairs that led to the control room and was pleased, for the first time in months, to find that the door was unlocked. As he walked inside, he took note that the room was much cleaner than the hangar, where Kimi was beginning to look like a dust rag as she explored the ganman parts. Satisfied, he set down the makeshift knapsack he had made out of one of the blankets in the truck and called out to her.

"Brush yourself off and get up here!" he ordered.

She pouted and put her hands on her hips. "Why should I?"

"Because I have the food, and you don't."

Defeated by his irrefutable logic, Kimi gave in and cleaned herself up as best she could before entering the control room. She sat down next to the blanket and selected a piece of fruit that was preparing to spoil.

"What do we do now? It's not a good idea to stay for a whole month."

Viral left out a deep breath. "We may not have a choice. Crossing the rest of the desert on foot isn't an option."

She quietly ate the fruit as they considered their options. There was enough food to last a week, considering Kimi's appetite had yet to recover, and water wasn't an issue, so they had about that much time to think of a way to either go the 500 kilometers directly to Kamina City, or find a way to reach New Teppelin, which was about midway to their final destination. Why couldn't they have started in East City instead of West City? There were more towns, and less sand, along the Cytomander Plains. But no, they just _had_ to cross the Guame Desert and even head north into the Thymilph Mountains, only to return to the freaking desert. Even swimming through the Adiane Sea would have been preferable.

"If only I could take some of these parts to Enkinex. At least I could get it to fly again," Kimi sighed, pulling Viral out of his bitter thoughts.

Viral shook his head. "You know as well as I do that that isn't an option either. We need to come up with something feasible."

"Care to steal a car?" she asked sarcastically, licking the juice off of her fingers.

Honestly, if they got desperate enough it was an option. At least that was what he told himself so that he would quit thinking about the way her tongue kept darting out of her mouth to get the juice off of her fingers. "That might draw some unwanted attention, but it is an acceptable idea."

Kimi raised an eyebrow. She hadn't expected him to seriously consider such a risky move. He was really out of ideas. She yawned, and Viral took advantage of her distraction to swallow the saliva pooling in his mouth. It was the fruit, he convinced himself. Even though it was overly ripe he was just interested in the _fruit_.

"Go to sleep," he said, a little harshly due to his internal dilemma. "I'll figure this out in the morning."

She didn't argue, but she was a little hurt. He had said 'I' instead of 'we.' Obviously he felt that he had to do this on his own and take care of her, but that wasn't the case. Granted, she had yet to make herself useful, but she could help. It wasn't all his responsibility, and she was capable of sharing some of the burden. His behavior over the past 48 hours had proven to her that he obviously didn't think she was capable of anything besides converting oxygen into carbon dioxide. She curled onto her side and went to sleep, pulling her legs into her chest in an attempt to keep herself warm.

As soon as he was sure she was asleep, Viral removed his poncho and covered her with it. This wasn't going to happen on a regular basis, just until her body had recovered a little. He was not being nice, he was being practical. The more comfortable she was, the more quickly she would be able to take care of herself again.

He had noticed that she had looked unhappy when he said he would find a solution to their dilemma. Why would she be unhappy about him finding a way to Kamina City? Did she want to spend the rest of her life as a fugitive?

He pinched the bridge of his nose. This was one of the reasons he never spent an extended period of time with anyone. People were too complicated. Especially that tattooed bastard.

Growling at the thought of the only person who could make him miserable from the grave, he decided to get some rest as well.

It was just past sunrise the next day when Viral suddenly sprang to his feet. It was quiet it the control room, save for Kimi's gentle breathing, but he heard a noise in the hangar, almost like the door was being opened. He surreptitiously peeked out the window. Sure enough, the metal door was being lifted, and a small group of people filed in alongside a mid-sized ganman. The ganman was pulling a cart which contained several ganmen parts, many of them similar to the ones already in the warehouse. The most important detail, though, was that the ganman appeared to be one of the illegal models.

Were these people a group of rabble-rousers? Viral took a closer look, although it was difficult even with his eyesight thanks to the cloud of dust that the ganman created as it walked inside. There were two brunette boys who looked to be brothers dressed in black, a girl with sandy colored hair in very revealing white clothes, and a figure wearing a white cloak with black sleeves. While the cloaked person interested Viral he was a little more concerned by the fact that they were all armed with electric guns, and the one with the cloak had a sword as well as a gun.

This was a problem. Should he and Kimi try to stay hidden and hope that these people left? Or should they make their presence known and see if the people were friendly? There was a sound of metal hitting metal coming from a corner of the hangar. Four sets of guns fired at the source of the noise. No, he did not think they were friendly. If it came down to a fight he could easily escape or overpower them, even though the ganman was going to be a real bitch, so long as he could think of a way to keep Kimi safe.

He couldn't think of any solution other than to make her wait in the control room, but that wasn't a guarantee of safety. Damn. If he had any sort of good luck at all they wouldn't come up to the control room and the two fugitives would be safe from the other fugitives.

The universe hated him. The brothers made their way up the stairs, making some sort of joke about the idiocy of the Grapearl Squad. Viral scanned the room but there were no other exits. He really didn't have a choice; he was going to have to overpower them. He crouched down and moved over to Kimi, who was still sleeping. It only took a gentle shake to wake her up, and he quickly covered her mouth before she could yawn.

"Be quiet. We have company, and they don't seem friendly," he whispered in her ear. "I'm going to knock them out. Stay here and be absolutely silent."

Once she nodded he lifted his hand from her mouth, slid his poncho over his head again, and crawled over to wait in front of the door. As his prey drew nearer he motioned for Kimi to hide under the control panel. She complied for the second time in as many minutes, much to his surprise, but if she was cooperating then he wasn't complaining. The brothers drew closer and closer. Viral's pulse started to pound as the adrenaline rushed through his veins. He missed this thrill, the thrill of the hunt. At the bathhouse Kimi had been in immediate danger, but this time he was free to enjoy the pounding of his heart, the heightening of his senses, and the bloodlust of a true predator.

The second the door was open just enough for him to fit through he pounced on the larger, presumable older brother, and knocked him into his sibling, causing all three of them to tumble loudly down the stairs. Viral was on his feet as soon as they landed on the hangar floor and made a rush toward the woman, who had already raised her gun to shoot. He continued his charge forward, assuming that the bullets would hurt, but at least he would be able to surprise her and disarm her without too much effort.

Viral would later realize that this would be a lesson in where the 'ass' in 'assume' came from. She shot him, but not with bullets. Oh no, she had a freaking taser gun. He froze, his muscles locking thanks to the electrical pulses shooting through his body. Self-healing was completely useless when his nervous system was constantly being bombarded. He would be able to get her the moment she let go of the trigger, but from the angry look on her lightly freckled face Viral didn't think that would be any time soon.

Something came around his waist and arms but didn't touch him. It looked like a snakeskin rope, only he could smell that it was alive. He felt breath on the back of his neck and realized that the cloaked figure had disappeared from his point of view. So, a reptilian beastman was hiding beneath that ugly scrap of fabric.

The woman finally released him from the incredibly painful surge of electricity and the beastman wrapped his tail fully around Viral. The grip wasn't tight though, as it had expected him to collapse instead of fight back. Sadly, the tail tightened around Viral in a death grip as soon as he started to struggle. _Great_, he thought_, now what do I do_? Immortality didn't help when he was captive.

The brothers groaned and wandered over to the woman. "Shut up!" she barked, hurting Viral's ears. "If you had actually paid attention he wouldn't have gotten you in the first place." She flipped her long sandy hair over her shoulder, making her overly revealed breasts bounce slightly.

"Easy for you to say," the younger one, nothing but a skinny teenager, grumbled.

"Yeah, you weren't the one who had to go up there." The older sibling, probably in his early twenties, near Kimi's age, had a slightly less whiny voice.

"If I had been the one up there I guarantee I wouldn't have been taken by surprise!"

The beastman holding Viral shifted. "Quit arguing," he hissed in a calm, raspy voice. "You sound like a group of children."

"Who asked you, you overgrown lizard?" the woman huffed. The beastman hissed quietly but said nothing. Viral felt almost sympathetic toward the beastman that was slowly crushing his spine and lungs. Almost.

He heard the clanging of chains just moments before he was knocked forward and out of the death grip of the reptile. When he looked up he saw that the younger brother had also been knocked over, and that Kimi, swinging from a chain, was already headed back toward the woman. Sadly, she didn't make it, as the rusty chain snapped and she fell. Viral moved forward to grab her as she careened through the air and then hit the floor. She rolled right into his arms, and he could smell the blood where she had scraped her sunburned skin.

"What part of stay put and be quiet don't you understand?" he snarled as he looked for an escape. He had wasted his chance in moving to get to Kimi as opposed to taking advantage of the scene her stunt caused and running. They were already surrounded by the four newcomers.

"You looked like you could use the help," she muttered, angry at her failure, and highly embarrassed too.

Viral stayed crouched on the ground, and pulled Kimi closer to his chest as the circle tightened. He growled in warning, an empty threat, but the beastman behind him hesitated and considered the cornered pair. Before anyone could make a move, though, the mouth of the ganman opened.

There were many things that made Viral angry. There were many things that put him in a violent state of mind. He had a temper; making him mad was easy. But this, _this_ went beyond mad and into the kind of blind fury that caused people to have seizures and go insane and claw their own eyeballs out. Sure, the tattoos were a different pattern, and the hair was white and had a ponytail, and the sunglasses weren't so angular and were black, but still it was _that _attitude. That attitude that rolled off of him in waves and was so thick that it was suffocating Viral as he tried, almost in vain, to keep his sanity intact. He was rather proud of himself for not foaming at the mouth when the pilot hopped out of the ganman and started his little spiel.


	9. Let the Torture Begin

I am very mean to Viral.

P.S. I do not own Gurren Lagann. If I did, there would have been a sequel series

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><p><strong>P.S.S.<strong> My sincerest apologies for the caps. I'm just too lazy to fix it now.

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><p>There were many things that made Viral angry. There were many things that put him in a violent state of mind. He had a temper; making him mad was easy. But this, <em>this<em> went beyond mad and into the kind of blind fury that caused people to have seizures and go insane and claw their own eyeballs out. Sure, the tattoos were a different pattern, and the hair was white and had a ponytail, and the sunglasses weren't so angular and were black, but still it was _that _attitude. That attitude that rolled off of him in waves and was so thick that it was suffocating Viral as he tried, almost in vain, to keep his sanity intact. He was rather proud of himself for not foaming at the mouth when the pilot hopped out of the ganman and started his little spiel.

"JUST WHO IN THE WORLD DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO ATTACK MY FRIENDS LIKE THAT? JUST WHO DO YOU THINK _WE _ARE? WE ARE THE GREAT AND POWERFUL CHECKERBOARD BRIGADE, AND I AM ITS LEADER, THE OMNIPOTENT KAORU!"

Seriously, the universe needed to just f**k the hell off! Because, obviously, once in a lifetime wasn't enough for Viral to have to put up with that goddamn bastard! Had he been reincarnated just to make Viral miserable? He wanted to scream.

"Nice to meet you, Kaoru. I'm in pain, he's upset, and together we are leaving," Kimi said sarcastically as she removed herself from Viral's suddenly loose grip and stood. She managed to take a few steps toward the door before anyone realized what she was doing since her actions were so bold. But the beastman wrapped his tail around her ankle before she could get too far.

Viral rounded on the beastman and let out a warning growl. The reptile hesitated but eventually let go, though he did keep his tail between Kimi and the door.

"I am impressed by your spunk! Tell me your names!" the leader cried.

She looked at Viral before responding. He gave her no indication as to whether or not he wanted her to reply because he was still too occupied with the other beastman. "I'm Kimi, and this is Viral," she said at length.

There were five gasps. "_The _Kimi? The one wanted for treason?" the woman asked.

"No way."

"It can't be," were the brothers' responses.

The reptilian beastman remained silent.

Kaoru approached her then and Viral quit eyeing the beastman so that he could growl at the bastard instead.

Kaoru frowned. "Your friend is not so friendly."

"I don't like being tased," he growled.

"You attacked us first," the woman huffed.

He growled louder. "What was I supposed to do, wait for dumb and dumber to find us?"

The brothers shouted "Hey," before being silenced by Kaoru.

"This was obviously self-defense," he claimed. "Anyone who was cornered the way you were would have done the same. It was a valiant effort, but not valiant enough to best my WONDEROUS BRIGADE! WE FIGHT FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE, and we will never stop until we have made this into a truly SPLENDID land! Our dream is as limitless as the sky! Truly, we are an UNSTOPPABLE FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH! We shall no longer stand by as people are FORCED TO THE SURFACE AGAINST THEIR WILLS! And we would be HONORED if you would join OUR NOBLE CAUSE!"

Viral was so busy trying not to vomit that he almost missed the last part. "Excuse me?" he asked, snapping out of his nausea. People weren't being evacuated, but _forced_ to the surface?

"We don't like some of the policies of the new government," the woman explained.

"So Kaoru put together this group in order to create a sort of… miniature revolution," the beastman continued. "And if you two are wanted for treason, you must dislike the government as well."

"I am not wanted for treason," Viral explained, regaining some of his usual cold demeanor. "I am just traveling with Kimi."

There was a beat of silence before Kaoru spoke again. "NO MATTER! YOU WILL BE WANTED FOR TREASON SOON ENOUGH!" Viral couldn't stop himself from sweat dropping at the remark. "Kimi! Will you join us on our journey?"

She didn't bother to check with Viral this time, already knowing that he was upset, but that they had been presented with a unique opportunity. "That depends on where you are going. I have a certain… agenda, and I really need to get to Kamina City."

"What luck! That is the way we are headed! WE SHALL JOIN FORCES AND CREATE CHANGE IN THIS NEW GOVERNMENT!"

If that bastard didn't stop shouting soon Viral was going to tear out his jugular, new ally or not.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" the younger brother asked, eyeing Viral suspiciously, and with good reason.

"Of course it is! Now introduce yourselves!"

"I'm Icas," the boy grumbled.

"I'm his older brother, Domon."

"My name is Refka," the girl said haughtily.

"And I am called Baccus," the beastman hissed, finishing the introductions.

"Good, now that everyone knows everyone, we shall begin preparations for our journey to Kamina City! First, we must finish repairing our second ganman!"

Viral couldn't help but notice the way Kimi's eyes lit up. "You need repairs on you ganman?" she asked excitedly.

"Why yes indeed! Will you be able to assist us?"

"Absolutely," she practically squealed. Finally, a chance to show her skills!

Viral resisted the urge to face palm. How had they ended up agreeing to go with this group they didn't really know anything about? For all they knew, this Checkerboard Brigade was planning on bombing Kamina City and torturing the survivors. Yet suddenly Kimi was best friends with them. He had a feeling that this was going to end badly.

Kimi and the other four humans had already made their way over to the cart of parts, and she was sorting through it frantically, 'ooh-in'g and 'ah-ing' over each new part until she abruptly froze. She was staring at something that was out of Viral's line of sight.

"Um, where did you pick up this batch of parts?" she asked almost hesitantly.

Viral and the other beastman made their way over, but the cart was too high for Viral to see over the ledge that Kimi was standing on.

"Oh here and there!" Kaoru replied.

"What about that piece?" she asked, pointing to whatever it was that had caught her attention. Viral had a bad feeling about what she was seeing.

"Oh, that one. I found it by the Adiane Sea, due south of New Teppelin," Refka said proudly.

"Oh."

That was all she had to say? What exactly was she looking at? Viral climbed onto the ledge and looked down into the cart.

It was a very nice shade of red that covered his vision, he mused almost detachedly. It reminded him of blood, and obscured the purple color of the ganman crest he was looking at. The crest his Enki used to wear, the crest in which he had taken such pride. It wasn't so much that Enki was now scrap metal, because he had abandoned it years ago, but the fact that parts of it had ended up in the hands of these moronic naked apes…

He inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to keep himself from biting everyone's head off. Instead, he bit his own tongue, which made him feel marginally better as he tasted the blood.

"Was this attached to a ganman?" Kimi asked the other woman as she watched Viral out of the corner of her eye. Though his expression hadn't changed all that much she had a strong feeling that he was seething on the inside.

"Well, yeah, but it was trashed for the most part. The crest was the nicest piece of the whole thing."

Kimi looked at Viral, who had actually stopped breathing entirely at that point. "Change of plans. Can you take us to the spot where you found this ganman before we head to Kamina City?"

"Whatever for?" Kaoru asked.

_Whatever for indeed_, Viral thought as he finally allowed oxygen back into his lungs. He looked at Kimi, who was still staring at Enki's crest.

"I might be able to fix it. At least, I'd like to try."

"We are on a tight schedule, however, if you can help us repair our second ganman within two days we shall do as you wish!"

Kimi looked at Kaoru with a smile. "If you're talking about the one sitting in the corner, and can have it finished by this afternoon."

She dove into the work like a madwoman while the Checkerboard Brigade sat down to play cards. Viral retrieved the knapsack of food and settled himself on the stairs, thinking about the odd situation. Why had Kimi agreed to go with these people so quickly? And why did she want to try to repair Enki? She had nothing to gain from it, and it would only be a delay, possibly a dangerous one.

"Hey, are you going to help her?" Domon asked, pulling Viral out of his thoughts.

The beastman watched blue sparks fly from the corner of the room. Then Kimi appeared from behind the ganman, her red glove, shirt and leggings covered in black oil, along with the formerly white bandage that had been wrapped around the scrapes on her upper arms and knees when Viral had been lost in his musings. She rushed over to the cart, pulled out another part, and rushed once more to the ganman, looking as excited as a squirrelmunk that had found a stash of acorns.

"No," he finally replied, deciding it would just be better to stay out of the way and let her do her thing. She said she was a good mechanic; now was her chance to prove it.

True to her word, just past noon the ganman, or rather a bunch of random pieces parts thrown together in what was supposed to be a ganman, stood and walked from its resting place and plodded over to stand beside its patchwork brother. The mouth opened and Kimi leapt to the floor.

"Well, what do you think?" she asked, obviously proud of her work and assuming they would appreciate it as well. Kaoru and Baccus went to look it over while the other three stayed put. They tapped it, climbed on it, and even took it for a walk around the hangar. Refka rolled her eyes, and was extremely displeased when Kaoru declared it "MARVELOUS!"

"We can leave as soon as the sun sets." Baccus sounded rather impressed from his perch on the ganman's shoulder. The brothers had awed expressions as well.

Viral silently admitted that the ganman seemed to move well and was relatively quiet despite the fact that some of the parts were starting to rust.

"Refka, could you tell me a little more about the damaged ganman? I might need to bring parts," Kimi said politely.

Refka snapped a little, "The whole thing looked trashed. I wouldn't even know where to begin!"

Viral's gaze narrowed. Something told him this girl didn't appreciate all of the attention Kimi was getting from her comrades. Viral didn't appreciate it either, but only because these people were freaks in his mind. It certainly wasn't because he was jealous. Refka was jealous, he wasn't. Seriously.

"Well, then I'll just have to take the basics, if that's alright with you," she deferred to Kaoru.

"Of course it is! A third ganman would be another MARVELOUS addition to our Brigade!"

Viral wished he had something to stuff in his ears. Or down Kaoru's throat. Yeah, he liked the second idea better.

"NOW WE FEAST IN HONOR OF OUR NEW MEMBER!"

Shouldn't that be member_s? _On second thought, Viral had no desire to be lumped in with this bastard and his group of backwater loonies. Maybe he should just go back to West City and let them take care of Kimi. Clearly she liked these people, based on the way she immediately joined them to eat some cured meat that Baccus had retrieved from the first ganman. Viral stayed where he was, neither hungry nor interested in joining them.

As he stared at them Kimi turned and made eye contact with him. They stared at each other for some time before Kimi looked away, an almost sad expression on her face. Did she want him to go and sit beside her? He couldn't tell. She really wasn't the same as before, before the war, before she had vanished, and he wasn't sure whether or not that was a good thing…

Once they finished eating, Kaoru stood and Viral cringed before the man even opened his mouth. "Now we shall venture forth to retrieve the ganman! Icas, Refka, you will ride in Rook! Kimi, I invite you to join me in King!"

Icas groaned and Refka looked like Viral felt. It took a lot of willpower not to growl. Those ganmen were smaller than average, and Kimi would be spending the next few hours on Kaoru's lap. He wasn't mad because he was jealous. That would be lying to say he was jealous. He just didn't like the pretentious, lecherous bastard, he told himself. That was why he was mad.

"If it's alright with you, I would rather ride in the cart. You know, so I can prep the parts while we travel. That way it will take less time when we get there," she rejected him as subtly as she could.

Viral smirked as the moron's face fell, but quickly frowned again when Kaoru perked up at Kimi's explanation.

"AN EXCELLENT IDEA FROM AN EXCELLENT MECHANIC! Now, let us get whatever parts you need!"

Icas hopped into the second ganman, Rook, and Kimi began directing him to place certain parts in the giant cart. Rook handled the heavy parts easily, and Viral was once again impressed that she had gotten the piece of junk up and running so quickly.

Baccus stood beside Viral as Refka went to have a loud whispered conversation with Kaoru. Viral would have eavesdropped if Baccus hadn't started speaking to him.

"You don't like us."

"I don't like anybody," he replied bluntly.

"At least you're honest, and you don't make a scene like Refka."

Viral smirked as the voices behind them got louder. "Why do you stay with them?"

"I have nowhere else to go." He removed his hood to reveal a green snakelike face with yellow eyes. "Most beastmen might be accepted by human society, but the ones like me, the ones who look more like animals, are still having a hard time."

_Oh boohoo_. Viral wanted to roll his eyes. Since when did it matter what human society thought of beastmen? How the mighty had fallen.

"COME NOW YOU TWO SLOWPOKES! WE BEGIN OUR JOURNEY!"

The beastmen turned around to see that Icas and Refka were already inside Rook. Domon was standing beside the cart and Kimi was already inside of it, leaning over the edge to look at Viral. He and Baccus exchanged looks before Viral went over and gracefully leapt into the cart while Domon and Baccus climbed up the side and sat on the outside ledge, giving the other two a miniscule amount of privacy.

Viral was none too pleased about the number of parts he was sandwiched between, but at least he had room to lie down if he wanted. Kimi was already getting on her back, her arms crossed behind her head. The ganmen moved quickly and not-so quietly, and soon they were beneath the half-starry desert sky.


	10. Beach Bums pt1

It isn't legitimate until we have some obligatory beach scenes!

I do not own Gurren Lagann. If I did, the four generals would have had more of their back story explained.

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><p>The sound of soft snores could be heard from outside the cart. It was then that Kimi decided it was finally safe to bring Viral back to reality and have a conversation with him. She crawled over to where he lay, looking dazed as he stared at the sky with unfocused eyes. He actually looked somewhat peaceful, a far cry from his normally sour expression. It really was a shame to have to bother him when he looked so relaxed, but she needed to speak with him.<p>

"Viral," she whispered into his ear.

He woke with a start, but managed not to cause a commotion. "What is it?" he hissed, clearly annoyed at being woken.

She faltered for only a moment. "What do you think of these guys?"

Viral tsked, "What does it matter? We're already traveling with them."

A peeved look crossed her face. "We could always sneak away when they aren't looking. Why do you sound so miserable anyway? We're going to get your ganman back."

"Whatever," he grumbled.

She sighed, and he tried not to squirm. Her breath was tickling his overly-sensitive ears.

"Let's just do our best to get whatever information out of them that we can without telling them anything. Maybe they know what's going on with Rossiu," Kimi whispered.

"Fine with me."

She scowled. "What is your problem?"

"What's yours?" he snapped back.

She made an irritated noise and backed away from him, moving to a toolbox in the corner. A light tapping of metal upon metal could be heard as she quietly tinkered with a ganman part. From what Viral could tell it belonged in the inner section of an arm joint.

He turned his gaze to the stars once more. He just didn't feel like talking to her. This was beginning to rub him the wrong way. He wanted adventure; not to be stuck babysitting a human girl and listening to the almost spitting image of his bastard adversary give speeches in all caps. It was too much for him. Tomorrow he would leave this group of crazies and return to West City. Kimi would be perfectly alright without him. After all, she had managed to survive this long without his help, so it wouldn't really be a loss to her.

He realized his fists were clenched, and he relaxed them. He had no clue as to why he had made a fist in the first place. It didn't matter though, so he pushed the thought aside and watched as the sky brightened.

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><p>They had stopped to eat, and Kimi was sitting in Rook's shadow fiddling with yet another part. They had traveled most of the morning until the sun had really started to heat things up. Now it was too hot to travel, even in the ganmen, so everyone was occupied with food, cards, and ganmen pieces. All except for Viral, that is. He sat off to the side, staring at Kimi without really seeing her. He was busy trying to think of a way to tell her he was leaving.<p>

It really shouldn't be so hard, he thought. All he had to do was say 'I'm going home. Maybe I'll see you later.' Or something to that effect. Yet he was sitting there contemplating how to break it to her gently. Was he afraid of hurting her feelings? Or was he afraid that she wouldn't care enough to ask him to stay?

He shook his head. No, he did not care whether or not she wanted him around! She was an insignificant human! She did not have the power to hurt his feelings! No one did.

He focused his gaze outward and observed the woman. Her lower lip was trapped between her teeth as she tried to fix a particularly rusted joint. Perhaps it was actually a section of the internal compressor. It was impossible for him to tell since the thing was so rusted. She set down her wrench and stretched her gloveless arms over her head. The gloves, along with the leggings, had been discarded in order to combat the heat and make working with the ganmen scraps easier. Viral had removed his scarf, though he wasn't nearly as bothered by the heat as Kimi.

"WE SHALL VENTURE FORTH ONCE AGAIN!"

Viral nearly jumped. He had been so focused on Kimi he hadn't noticed that the overly-vocal bastard had moved to stand right next to him.

As he tried to stop the ringing in his ears Viral saw his chance. This was the perfect time to make his getaway. "Actually-" he began, when Kimi cut him off.

"Actually what? The sooner we get to the sea the better. Is there a reason we should be making a delay?" she snapped angrily. She was still mad about his dismissive behavior earlier.

He was a little surprised by her sudden outburst, as was everyone else. "No, but-"

"Then get your backside up here!" she called as she started to climb back into the cart.

Viral stood. He could have just said goodbye and walked away. It was logically the easiest thing to do. Logic didn't hold much sway over pride, though. It would hurt his pride to let her boss him around like that, but it would hurt even more if he walked away like a petulant child throwing a temper-tantrum. So he grudgingly followed her into the cart once more and they continued their journey. He was just grateful that they would be reaching the ocean by sunrise tomorrow. Perhaps he could sneak onto a ship and go find a place to live on one of the newly inhabited islands. Even if they didn't go near a port town he should be able to get away from the Brigade by that point. He hoped.

Refka squealed, managing to hit that one note that Viral hated oh-so-very-much. "The beach!" she shouted, hopping out of Rook, much to Icas' relief.

Kimi looked over the edge of the cart. Her eyes widened at the sight before her and her lips parted slightly in awe. Viral stayed where he was, lying on the bottom of the cart, and watched her instead. He had seen the ocean dozens of times, but it had never occurred to him that this would be Kimi's first time. She smiled in delight and awe, and for some unfathomable reason Viral was tempted to smile as well. He killed the urge with a swift mental roundhouse kick and moved to get out of the cart. Kimi followed him almost hesitantly.

Everyone stared for a moment as the light from the rising sun danced over the gently rolling waves. Viral did smile slightly then, because for the first time in days no one was talking. Then the voices started once more.

"Let's go swimming!" was shouted almost unanimously. Viral, Kimi, and, surprisingly, Kaoru stayed quiet. That didn't last long though.

"Kimi, join us in our frolicking!"

Okay, who used the word 'frolicking' unless they were insulting someone? Viral contemplated how he could drown Kaoru and make it look like an accident.

His sadistic thoughts came to a halt when he noticed the multitude of expressions that crossed Kimi's face. Excitement, uncertainty, apprehension, awe, and longing were the ones he recognized.

"Um, no thanks. I think I should just start working. Where is En- the ganman?" she stuttered to Refka.

"It's over in that cliff somewhere," she replied dismissively.

Kimi turned to look at the ocean-side cliffs. The sun had risen just enough for the rays of light to catch something metallic, making an almost painful reflection.

"I see it," she muttered. "Would it be alright if I took Rook?"

"Of course!"

She turned to Viral. "You coming?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"Why would I? You're the one who wanted to fix the stupid thing."

She scowled and stormed off, much to Kaoru's disappointment. "Would you like me to assist you?" he called after her.

"No thanks," she called over her shoulder. "I can probably handle it myself. I just thought that Viral might like to find out if this supposed hunk-of-junk is his old ganman."

Kaoru stared at Viral suspiciously, and Viral returned the look with a haughty one before turning away and walking toward a rocky area of the beach, in the opposite direction from the cliff.

Kimi couldn't believe his attitude. Here she was, doing something nice for him, trying to fix his Enki, and he was being so rude to her! She made an irritated noise as she made her way up the rocky slope. At least Rook was able to deftly climb the face of the cliff as well as carry some of the spare parts she thought she might need without too much trouble. She was proud of her handiwork. Enki was going to be even better than new by the time she was finished!

When she finally reached the top of the cliff she gasped in horror. Enki was there, but in dozens of rusted, broken pieces. How in the world had it gotten up here, and why hadn't Viral said anything? How could he not have known the location or condition of his ganman anyway? She sighed, knowing she would never get the answer out of him. Pushing her frustration aside, as well as suppressing the urge to cry over seeing a ganman in such disrepair, she set to work.

It wasn't until sundown that she realized she had been working nonstop for the entire day. She had managed to reassemble the legs and assess the rest of the body, but it was going to take several days for her to repair all of the damage. If it wasn't for her rumbling stomach she probably would have worked for a few more hours. Sadly, she didn't have a body like Viral's and resigned herself to facing the cranky beastman once more.

Viral, in the meantime, was getting fidgety. When Kimi hadn't returned for lunch, Domon went to check on her only to come back and report that she was working like a madwoman and hadn't even noticed him when he asked if she was hungry. The cliff had been in Viral's peripheral vision the entire day as he sat on the rocks facing the ocean, but now his attention was focused solely on the cliff. The woman needed to hurry back already so he could leave!

His eyes narrowed as Rook finally arrived at their campsite. The fire that Icas had started glinted off of the ganman's steel frame as it finally came to a halt. Kimi exited, covered in oil and looking frustrated. She briefly made eye contact with Viral, who was sitting furthest from the fire, before sitting next to Baccus, who offered her a cloth napkin and a piece of meat.

Viral wanted to scoff. Couldn't she have at least cleaned herself off before sitting down to a meal?

"How is the ganman?" Icas asked.

Kimi sighed, "Repairable. Maybe."

"Nonsense! I am sure a mechanic of your skill could create a fantastic army of ganmen out of nothing but rusted scraps!"

Refka and Viral both glared at Kaoru. Unfortunately their irritation went unnoticed.

"Thanks," Kimi muttered, smiling halfheartedly.

"Kaoru's right."

"I couldn't agree more."

So now the brothers were starting to annoy him. He couldn't stand suck-ups. Life just kept getting better and better. He sat quietly while everyone else chatted and ate, waiting for the Chess Brigade or whoever the hell they were to fall asleep before attempting to speak to Kimi and tell her goodbye.

"Wake up," he hissed in her ear several hours later. She opened one eye, then closed it and rolled over. "Don't ignore me!" he ordered, moving to her other side. She just flipped over again.

"Damn naked ape," he muttered aloud, not even realizing it.

"Stupid fuzzy human," she whispered back without looking at him. He was so stunned by the comment he simply knelt beside her for a few moments. It didn't take too long for him to regain his composure and looked furious, but he said nothing and moved back to his position away from everyone else and lying on the sandy ground.

His mood hadn't improved much the next day, or even the day after that. Kimi would ignore him, work on Enki the whole day, and he would be stuck with the loud-mouthed morons, watching them play on the beach.

However, on the third night he was roused from his sleep by Kimi walking past him. He quietly stood and followed her to the edge of the water. He kept his distance as she stared at the ocean, standing just far enough from the waterline that she wouldn't get her bare feet wet. He waited a few minutes, expecting her to jump into the water at any time. When she remained on the shore he finally approached her.

"What are you doing?"

She didn't jump as though she was startled. She didn't even look at him. "I'm just watching the waves," she replied as he moved to stand at her side.

"If you're so interested in the water, why don't you go swimming with those hare-brained fools?"

She frowned. "The sooner I fix _your _ganman, the sooner we can get to Kamina City."

"I told you I don't care. It makes no difference whether or not you take a break. Besides, I thought you would want to spend some quality time with your new friends. You look as though you really want to."

Kimi didn't miss the insult in his tone. "I would actually love to, but you know what? I can't swim!" she snapped.

Viral looked at her, surprised. "You can't?"

"Think about it. When would I have ever needed to learn that particular skill? And who would have taught me?"

He fell silent for a moment as he considered it. "Why didn't you just ask someone to teach you during the three days we've been here?"

"You were mad at me," she said, as though 'someone' only consisted of him. A small part of him was flattered. A larger part of him curb-stomped the smaller part.

"Are you asking me now?" he questioned, wanting her to sooth his pride by admitting defeat.

She looked at him, then the ocean, then back to him. "I guess," she said hesitantly.

"Ask me nicely," he demanded.

She pouted. "So mean. Fine. Will you please teach me how to swim?"

He made a face as though he was mulling it over. He tilted his head, and made her wait for the answer he knew he was going to give even before she asked. "Fine," he said in a long suffering tone.

"You don't need to sound as though you have better things to do."

"I'd be a little more grateful if I were you." Finished with the conversation, he went back to his unofficial spot only to realize that he'd been bamboozled into staying for a few more days. He growled. He was getting far too soft.

At least it seemed as though they would be agreeable with each other once more.


	11. Beach Bums pt2

_**PLEASE READ, IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT:**_

_****_Okay, for those of you who have been following the story thus far, you may have noticed (or not, really I have no clue how much everyone pays attention) that I changed the genres from adventure to tragedy.

Recently, an idea popped into my head which necessitated the change in genre. It wasn't part of my original plan, but I think this idea has me in a stranglehold and I really feel that I need to add it to the story.

I understand if my original readers are like 'what? somebody's gonna die! this is a load of crap! *flips keyboard, walks away*' After all, I think is was technically misleading you (maybe?). However, if you've already gotten this far you might as well keep reading. even though something sad will happen eventually there is still plenty of fun and adventure to be had! :D Okay? so please don't ditch me?

Now, let's have some 4th of July swimming lessons! Unfortunately, the only fireworks are metaphorical.

I own Kimi and the Checkerboard Brigade, but I do not own Gurren Laggan. If I did, Viral, Simon, and Kamina would each have had a parade dedicated to them.

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><p>Viral rose early that morning so that he could do a little swimming before he started giving Kimi lessons. Feh. Maybe he should trick her and the others into thinking there was a shark attack. He grinned in delight at the thought of Kaoru screaming like a little girl. That would be adequate revenge for being made to suffer his presence longer than necessary. Well, perhaps not quite adequate, but it would be a start.<p>

He swam a few laps along the shore as the sun rose. It was nice and quiet, and he was trying to appreciate the calm while it lasted. It was a fairly easy since he was part shark and took to the water naturally. The water felt warm and pleasant against his skin. He was finally starting to relax when a whistle burst his bubble.

Viral almost gave himself whiplash as he turned his head toward the shore. Kimi was standing by the edge of the water in her skirt and bra looking over her shoulder. Icas was behind her, struggling as Baccus clamped a hand over his mouth and pulled him back as both Refka and Kaoru rounded on the naïve boy. Domon was looking at Kimi apologetically.

Icas really should be grateful that Viral wasn't over there, lest the human suddenly find his windpipe detached from the rest of his body.

The beastman made his way toward the shore, stopping when he was knee deep in the water. He pushed the wet hair out of his face so he could get a better look at the scene before him.

"What is going on here?" he asked unnecessarily. He had a pretty good guess as to why the idiots were fighting amongst themselves, and he had a feeling it involved the half-naked girl standing about five meters away from him.

Much to his disappointment the comical display of idiocy ceased as Kaoru and Refka turned to look at him. Well, Kaoru looked at him at least. Refka was more or less ogling.

Viral was a bit lanky, true, but he did have well defined abs, arms, and, well, everything else. He suppressed a cold shudder and crossed his arms over his chest. There was something _fundamentally_ wrong with the way Refka was staring at him, and he was grateful he only had his red boxers as a bathing suit choice, as opposed to something like that disgustingly tiny scrap of fabric that Kaoru was wearing.

Before the nausea could really start to bother Viral, Domon answered his nearly-forgotten question. "My brother's just being a dumbass. Don't mind him."

Baccus had taken advantage of the momentary distraction to pull Icas further away from their irate teammates in order to prevent bodily harm from befalling the impulsive moron. It didn't work to well as Kaoru remembered what had happened and turned toward the boy.

"HOW DARE YOU ACT IN SUCH AN INAPPROPRIATE AND LECHEROUS MANNER TOWARD OUR MOST HONORED NEW MEMBER!"

Like the damn naked bastard was one to talk.

Ignoring Refka's continuing observation of his physique, Viral called to Kimi. "Are you coming out here sometime today?"

"Yeah, yeah," she said in a surly tone, turning away from Icas… or had she been looking at Refka? Both would have been in her field of vision, but the way her neck had been twisted a bit further than necessary…

Viral clawed the thought to shreds. That was absurd. Kimi had no reason to be looking at Refka when Icas had been the one to agitate her.

Just before she reached him he turned and walked away from the shore for a few meters, until the water covered him to the point where his bellybutton should have been. Kimi followed him, a little nervous considering she was shorter than him by about six inches and was already up to her ribcage. For her sake he was glad that the waves were rolling very gently as opposed to crashing.

"Alright, lie on your back."

"What?"

Viral scowled. "You heard me, lie on your back with your arms and legs spread wide." He figured that the back float was as good a place to start as any.

Unfortunately that seemed beyond her, as she kept panicking and sinking. She came up sputtering so many times that he lost count.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Alright, let's try this instead; hold your breath, close your eyes, and try lying on your stomach," he explained in an exasperated tone.

Kimi frowned, looking for all the world like a half-drowned kittencub, but did as she was told. And failed. Miserably. Viral took a deep breath and pinched his nose again.

"Obviously I'm not getting this whole 'lying on water' thing. Why don't you tell me or, better yet, show me what I'm doing wrong instead of standing there and sighing like I'm some sort of unteachable idiot!" she snapped angrily, crossing her arms beneath her breasts. Her black bra was completely soaked, and probably very cold. He tried not to think too much about the choice of color or the temperature of her skin.

Instead of telling her that unteachable wasn't even a word, or thinking about her improvised swimsuit, because that was wrong in so many ways and forms, he did a back float to show her how it was accomplished. When he finished and stood she made another attempt and sunk once again.

"This is the most basic move I can think of. You shouldn't be having _this_ much trouble."

She put her hands on her hips, though the gesture lost some of its effect as her hips were well underwater. "Why don't you correct my form then? Move my arms and legs where they need to be instead of just sneering at me?"

Viral looked off to the side. "Tch. If you can't even do this simple move by yourself then there's no way you'll be able to learn anything else."

"That just saves you time then, since this is the only thing you'll have to teach me!" she replied, her voice growing in volume. "Just give me a hand!"

He crossed his arms over his chest, making tight fists out of his hands. "I've no interest in 'giving you a hand.' If you want that, go ask someone else for help!"

"You know- you just- forget it!" she stammered, too flustered to form coherent sentences. She stormed off, or rather stormed off as best she could, considering the water made it difficult to move in a storming fashion. As she exited the water Viral noted with minimal interest that her skirt was sticking to her backside like a second skin. Really it was minimal interest. Otherwise it would have been creepy.

_So much for our truce_, he thought tiredly as she disappeared into Rook and headed to the cliff. He swam a few laps, refusing to feel guilty that, yes, he could have been a little more patient. Just a little, itty-bitty, miniscule bit, because he definitely was not in the wrong. He used to be quite patient with her, but that had been a long time ago, and so many things had changed since then.

Finally getting bored of swimming, he climbed onto his rock and sat cross-legged while he waited for the midday sun to dry his skin and fur. The four humans of the Backgammon Brigade, or whoever the hell they were, went in the water shortly after his exit. As he tried to ignore the looks of irritation he kept receiving from the males, and the look of… ugh, _interest_ he kept getting from Refka, he briefly wondered where the Snake-beastman had gone. His question was answered quickly when he heard the sound of scales against rock not too far from where he was sitting.

Baccus made himself comfortable on the rock beside Viral's. "You two having a quarrel?"

By way of reply Viral grunted noncommittally.

"You should be more grateful toward your mate."

If Viral had been someone who was shaken easily, he would have panicked and started profusely denying what Baccus had just said. But he was Viral, and the Virals of the world didn't do overly-defensive.

"Why in the world would you think she's my mate?" he snapped, panic coloring his voice. Okay, maybe the Virals of the world did extremely-minor overly-defensive. On rare occasions. Very rare occasions.

"You're quite territorial and protective of her. And she seems extremely fond of you, otherwise she would probably spend more time with her new human companions."

Part of Viral's mind jumped on Baccus's train of thought. It was a logical conclusion, considering the fact that Baccus had only known them for a week. However Viral knew better, so he mentally pulled the lever to switch the train tracks to a path that would send the locomotive over a cliff, along with the small part of him that annoyed him almost as much as the Bastard and his reincarnation.

"She's just an old acquaintance. We happened to bump into each other one day," he didn't feel the need to elaborate how literally they had bumped each other. "Now I'm going with her to Kamina City. As soon as she does what she needs to do I'm going home."

"An old acquaintance?" Baccus scoffed. "How _old_ of an acquaintance can she be? She can't be any older than 25, and considering the fact that all beastmen were serving in Lordgenome's army until six years ago I don't really see the plausibility of your story, though I can't see why you would lie."

Viral remained silent for a moment. "She's about 23," he muttered, not really certain of how old she had been the last time he had seen her.

Baccus looked at him strangely, given the fact that he had focused on her age instead of his questioned honesty. He shrugged, returning to the original topic of the conversation, "Still, she seems like she would be a _decent_ mate for you, at least."

Viral failed to stifle a laugh under his hand. He would have liked to believe the laugh was from genuine humor at the absurdity of Kimi being a good mate. It certainly wasn't a cover for the fact that there was a teensy possibility Baccus was right. "Why would you think that?" he asked after regaining his composure.

"She's talented with ganmen, she's friendly, trusting, and she has an attractive scent. Plus, Refka is the only female any of us have been around for months, and next to her anyone would be more appealing."

Viral wasn't really sure as to why he had tensed at the compliment about her scent, though some of the tension left at the flippant remark about the obnoxious female. At first he was unsure as to how he felt about another beastman sniffing around Kimi. Then he convinced himself that he didn't really care, and it only bothered him because it was creepy. Then he told himself that _he_ wasn't sniffing around her either. _She just happens to be standing in the air that I happen to breathe_, is what he more specifically told himself.

"She's human," was the only reply he could wrangle out of his brain. He didn't really feel like lying and saying that Baccus had the wrong impression of her.

"I suppose."

Instead of answering, Viral's head snapped toward the cliff as he heard a howl. Not just a howl, but the howl of a pained animal. It would have been too quiet for the humans to hear, but judging by the way his head had snapped Baccus had heard as well.

Viral listened for a moment, completely still. He had even stopped breathing for fear he would miss something. After several moments of silence he relaxed and inhaled the scent of the sea once more. Some stupid animal had probably just taken a tumble off of the cliff. There were no screams for help, no sound of ganman weapons being fired. There was certainly no explosion. Kimi was fine. Not that he was _too_ concerned. After all, it was like he had told Baccus; they weren't mates. Besides, she could take care of herself. She was a tough human despite her petite stature.

He shifted to his stomach, ignoring the concerned stare Baccus was still leveling on the cliff. He started to doze in the pleasant warmth of the sun, but his daydreams were filled with dark visions of wolves and chains.


	12. Bow Chika Bow Wow

Okay, this is a short chapter, but it's better than nothing, right?

My sincerest apologies for the chapter title. NOTHING DIRTY HAPPENS I SWEAR!

I own Kimi, the Checkerboard Brigade, and Aria. I do not own Gurren Lagann. Anyone who likes the series should be incredibly grateful for that.

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><p>Kimi pulled on her boots before hopping out of Rook. She had decided against wearing her shirt as there was no reason for her to put a dry shirt over a wet bra. Actually she had debated on whether or not to take off her skirt at this point so that it would be at least semi-dry when she went back to the campsite for the night. She decided against it on the off chance someone of the male persuasion might randomly appear to "comfort" her.<p>

Not that she should even need comforting! He had some nerve! She shook her still damp hair, scooped up her toolbox and stomped angrily over to Enki. She had essentially reassembled it, and was now only fixing the wiring in and out of the cockpit. Normally working on a ganman helped her calm down after being frustrated, but the fact that it was his ganman was only making the anger worse. She was fixing his ganman, his severely damaged ganman, and he couldn't even be nice enough to teach her how to swim. Red danced across her vision as she tightened a bolt, but unlike Viral she didn't appreciate the beauty of the shade. In an extreme and rare fit of rage she snarled and whipped the wrench into the trees that adorned the cliff. She was about to turn back around and kick the hull of the ganman as well when she heard a loud howl of pain.

Her whole body tensed, and she turned in the direction that she had tossed the innocent wrench. She heard mumbled curses, and debated whether or not she should go see if whoever she hit was alright, or take Rook and flee. But Kimi was somewhat softhearted, and certainly not a coward, so she went to see whomever she had hit. She really hoped they weren't hurt. Ganman first aid was not the same as medical first aid.

It didn't take her long to find her victim, and it took even less time for her heart to start abusing her ribcage in its futile attempts to break free. Kneeling on the ground, mumbling, rubbing the back of her head, and scowling at the wrench in her clawed hand not ten feet away from Kimi was none other than Aria the Wolf.

Aria stiffened, noticing she had company and turned to look directly into Kimi's startled eyes. The offending wrench was quickly forgotten as the female beastman lunged at the woman, pinning her to the nearest tree by her throat. It wasn't a suffocating grip, but the Wolf was strong and had long arms so Kimi couldn't even attempt to kick her as she struggled for freedom. Seeing that escape was impossible she stilled and glared at the Wolf.

The glaring match didn't last long. Aria's expression changed from pure fury to bland despondency as her grip on the human slackened. She let go completely and moved away, snarling "It's not fair," underneath her breath.

Kimi was pleased that she was no longer in mortal danger and considered running. However, Aria no longer seemed to be a threat, and she was curious as to what the beastman was doing here. On the off chance that she was mistaken, she made sure there was enough distance between them so that she could run away if necessary.

"What isn't fair?" she asked.

Aria glared at her over her shoulder, flashing those wolfish fangs. "You get to have Viral _and_ be human. It's not fair."

Kimi's response was automatic. "First of all, Viral isn't _mine_. I have no idea why you would think that Viral would even be moderately interested in me." Her tone was actually fairly bland.

"Why not? You're young. You have a pretty face and a nice figure."

"Yeah but," she started, unsure of how to phrase her next statement, and also slightly distracted because Aria, the same Wolf who had chained her to a basement wall and whipped her back bloody, had just genuinely complimented her. "Beastmen don't reproduce sexually. Why should it matter if I'm physically attractive?"

She thought about Vive for all of ten seconds. Love wasn't necessarily physical, so she wasn't counting that… incident. Unlike so many humans, she had never once questioned a beastman's capability to love. Just reproduce. She had seen enough beastmen relationships in her childhood to reach the first conclusion. The second was based on the fact that she had known Lordgenome was responsible for the creation of all of the beastmen.

Aria snorted and looked away. "Just because we can't reproduce doesn't mean we don't enjoy getting laid."

That was… weird. Just knowing that new piece of information, without the disturbing images of Aria and Viral, was enough to make her queasy. When the disturbing images started she almost lost it.

Trying in vain to unthink her thoughts, Kimi changed the subject. "What did you mean when you said I _get_ to be human?"

The Wolf turned around and snarled, nearly sending Kimi into cardiac arrest. "You ungrateful bitch! You get to live twice as long! You can stay awake all day and night if you choose! You can fight to change something if you don't like it! You can have children!" At this the wolf stopped, the defeated look crossing her face again. She looked at her hands; covered in lavender fur, only four fingers ending in sharp, curved points. She didn't even have nails like Viral.

"These hands weren't meant to hold anything as fragile as a baby. These hands are the curse of the beastmen!" she said, her voice bitter and her eyes angry. She started to walk away, and Kimi made no move to stop her. She was too busy processing everything she had just heard… save for the copulation part. Because thinking about that while the image of Aria was fresh in her mind would lead to a very bad place.

What really held her focus was the last two comments about Aria's hands. She looked at her own; small, delicate, and calloused from working on ganmen for years.

How cruel. How absolutely cruel to design beastmen to have desires like that and never be allowed to fulfill them. Lordgenome was truly a bastard, and she felt her old anger resurface. Even in death he still caused pain and heartache.

She shook her head. There was nothing she could do about it; she was not a medical professional. All she could do was fix ganmen, starting with Viral's, and hope that he would quit being so surly all of the time.

Something in her head clicked, and her eyes widened in realization.

Eyes returning to their normal ganman-fixing state, a blazing passion with a hint of determination, she returned to her work on Enki. Belatedly she realized that she hadn't asked Aria why she was at the sea. She supposed that in the end it didn't really matter. But then again, she supposed that it truly had been a stroke of fortune, and might actually matter _very _much.


	13. Mental Breakdown pt1

Look at that, another chapter already!

The school year is coming up and the stress has me on a writing binge so maybe there will be one more chapter before classes start.

I apologize for the speech in all caps, but I needed a way to convey the pure, unfettered rage. I also apologize to anyone who doesn't (or does) get the Potter Puppet Pals reference. If you have no clue what I'm talking about then your life is too sheltered and you need to go on Youtube and remedy your ignorance of wizard swears.

I own Kimi, Aria, and the Name-Change Brigade, But not Gurren Lagann. If I did, oh the thrills I would have :}

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><p>Viral scratched his arms, more out of irritation than actually soothing an itch. Where was she? It was almost night, the Domino Brigade had started eating around the campfire, and, oh yeah, Refka kept staring at him like he was a choice piece of meat. He was going to kill Kimi. <em>Was she purposely delaying her return to make him mad, or was she still pissed about their argument earlier<em>? She got offended way too easily. _ Perhaps she had finished fixing Enki and had taken off_? The thought was dismissed almost as soon as it entered his head. Her pride in her work and her new friendship with the Blackjack Brigade (his interest in them was so minimal that he couldn't even remember something close to their name) would keep her from abandoning him.

_Them_, he corrected himself. She wouldn't abandon the Poker Brigade. She wouldn't abandon Viral because that would mean that she _could _abandon him which implied that he was attached to her. Which he wasn't. He wasn't!

He nearly jumped out of his skin when Kaoru shouted, "OUR MARVELOUS MECHANIC RETURNS, proving that our concern was misplaced!"

Viral turned around once he was sure that his heart was indeed still beating, just too fast for him to actually feel the pounding. Kimi was standing not too far behind him, looking a little sheepish at Kaoru's voiced concern for her safety. Then she noticed Viral staring at her. She smiled pleasantly and took a seat near him, further from the fire than her new friends, but not quite as far away as Viral.

Viral stared at the back/side of her head. Weren't they fighting? Why was she smiling at him like that and sitting close to him instead of the Texas-Hold'em Brigade? Had something happened in the past six hours that had-

His train of thought derailed as he arrived at the most important question; how the hell had she snuck up on him while piloting a three ton ganman?

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make your worry," she said to the herd of buffoons while Viral's eyes widened as he wondered why he hadn't heard the approach of the ganman. It made no sense!

"I thought I would be able to finish today, but rewiring the cockpit took longer than I thought."

"No matter! We are just happy that you have returned safe and sound!"

Seriously, even when Kaoru was shouting he wasn't much louder than a ganman! And it was rusty too! All of the elbow grease in the world couldn't have made Rook squeak any less!

"Do you think you'll finish tomorrow?" Icas asked.

"Well actually I was hoping Domon…"

Hell, with the echo he should have been able to hear her the moment she started heading back!

"Did I tell you about…?"

Had he really not been paying attention?

"… with a bucket…"

Did Kaoru's shouting damage his ears beyond even supernatural repair?

"… Hippopotamus… republicans…"

Or was he just so concerned with her safety that his thoughts had overpowered his hearing?

"… Agree, Viral?"

He jumped for the second time that evening. "What?" he asked, coming out of his reverie.

"I asked if you agreed… that Kamina was a hero," Kimi repeated.

Several things ran through Viral's head at that point. 1, why was Kimi explaining the question to him in a subtle matter instead of accusing him of being rude and not listening, 2, why did the gesture strike him as nice, 3, seriously, what the hell was going on with her, she was supposed to be mad at him and, 4, did she actually just ask that? Had she really just inquired as to whether or not he thought the over-compensating-with-the-sword bastard, the loudmouthed, overly confident freak, the bane of his existence, the bastard who had served him the ultimate humiliation in front of a group of generals and a psychotic king whom he didn't even deserve to feel humiliation in front of because they were so pathetic, the one who made his stomach heave and his skin crawl just from knowing the fact that _he_ had, at one point, existed, the one who made him want to claw out his own eyes and eat them if it meant he wouldn't have to look at that cocky grin one more fucking time, the one who made his blood boil and his very being scream in sheer agony at the very mention of _his_ name, the one who continued to cause cold shivers to run up his spine and unheard howls of tortured frustration to bubble up in the back of his throat and asphyxiate him despite the fact that _he_ was _dead_, the one he wished he could bring back to life just so he could have the pleasure of tearing out _his_ windpipe and letting the blood flow just so that he could be absolutely assured that he would never have to listen to another one of those fucking speeches that had kept him from sleeping at night when he was still able, was actually a _hero_?

He was so absolutely infuriated that all he could do was growl. Quite pathetic in the face of his pure rage. Everyone backed away from him, afraid he would start foaming at the mouth and kill them.

"Viral?" Kimi asked tentatively, not sure if the blood vessels in his head were going to explode.

He imagined the windpipe scenario a few times, adding in various torture devices such as a wheel spoke and a sewing machine. It relaxed him, and he stopped growling and settled into a more comfortable position.

"No, I did not think of him as a hero," he managed to reply in an even tone.

Domon sweat dropped. "Yeah, we got that," he muttered.

"You can't be serious. Would you really prefer to be taking orders from that tyrant right now?" Baccus hissed.

Viral picked his next words carefully, well aware that his self-control had been almost bludgeoned to death by hatred so intense it would make the devil cringe. "I did not say that. I am glad to be free of Lordgenome. But it was Simon that killed him. I… accept that I owe my freedom to Simon. I do not care what part K…Ka…Kamin…n…na… played," even saying the name was physically painful, and everyone present wondered if he was going to keel over, dead. Even Kimi was worried, despite the fact that she knew he was immortal. Besides, she didn't think immortality or self-regeneration could help in the wake of a mental breakdown. "I. Do. Not. Like. Him," Viral finished, his voice deceptively calm.

Everyone was silent. Even the fire, as though sensing the roiling emotion coming from Viral, stopped crackling in an attempt at self-preservation. Then Icas decided to be an idiot for the second time that day. Kimi would later wonder why almost being killed by his comrades earlier hadn't been enough, and he had to go and tweak the lion's tail.

"Why?"

"Why? WHY?" something inside of Viral snapped. He leapt to his feet and started advancing on the hapless boy, walking straight through the innocent fire and sending cinders everywhere. Icas backed into Rook and looked pleadingly at his friends, who all seemed too scared to help. "BECAUSE HE WAS THE MOST AGGRAVATING HUMAN BEING TO EVER EXIST! BECAUSE HE WAS SO FUCKING COCKY ABOUT EVERYTHING AND NEVER KNEW WHEN TO SHUT UP! BECAUSE HE DESTROYED MY GANMAN ON SO MANY OCASSIONS THAT I GOT SICK OF FIXING IT AND ABANDONED IT ON THESE CLIFFS AFTER THE WAR! BECAUSE HE HUMILIATED ME IN FRONT OF MY COMRADES AND KILLED ALMOST ALL OF THE OTHERS! BECAUSE HE WAS SO SICKENINGLY OPTOMISTIC ABOUT FUCKING EVERYTHING!" he started to run out of steam. "Because he drove me crazy with his damn grin and his damn speeches and his damn attitude and his damn sunglasses! He stole my dinner…" he trailed off. The hellfire left his eyes, his head drooped, and his shoulders slumped as he tried to catch his breath. Defeat rolled off of him in waves, and he looked like the sort of person whose favorite dogbear had just died.

Kimi decided to risk approaching him. She looked Icas over quickly. He looked like he was shocked and still afraid for his life, but otherwise unharmed. Then she turned her attention to Viral. When she touched his arm, he flinched and pulled away, but did look up at her.

"Feel better?" she asked. If she had had any idea what a touchy subject Kamina would be, she would have just left him to daydream. But, no, she had tried to be nice and include him in the conversation and look what had happened. It wasn't Viral's fault; she (incorrectly, no, really) assumed he was suffering some kind of trauma and she refused to blame him. She just wanted to make sure he was alright now, and she would do the apologizing later.

Viral was ashamed. Ashamed that the bastard was still making him angry, ashamed he couldn't control himself. He didn't bother to analyze why he cared what anyone thought of him, and instead began to wonder if he was 'all there' mentally. He took a few deep breaths as he considered the fact that he might be off kilter, might be as crazy as his creator. But then, delusional people couldn't even consider the fact that they were delusional, could they?

Satisfied that, although he had severe anger management issues (keeping his fury repressed like that and then letting it all out at once was unhealthy, he admitted silently), he wasn't missing any screws, he directed his gaze outward. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Icas cowering, and now that the blood wasn't pounding in his ear he could hear a slight whimpering as well. The rest of the Go-Fish Brigade was standing off to the side, shocked and still nervous. And Kimi was staring at him with concern and sympathy. He was too tired, too emotionally and physically exhausted to get upset with her for pitying him. So instead of snapping at her or questioning her motives he just mumbled, "Yeah."

She smiled softly and reached out again to take his arm. Then she hesitated. Viral saw how she curled her fingers into a fist and let it drop back to her side, how she bit her lip, how her eyes seemed to darken. If he had the energy, he would have wondered what the expression on her face meant or why she wasn't yelling at him for losing his temper. Yet when she said "Come on," and walked away he followed her obediently without questioning anything. The Old Maid Brigade rushed forward as soon as they felt he was a safe distance away from the still terrified Icas to tend to him.

Kaoru, who had been uncharacteristically silent until this point, decided it was time for him to voice his view on what had just occurred.

"It appears that Viral _may_ be harboring some ill will toward the illustrious Kamina!" he mused.

Domon and Refka sweat dropped as they helped a shaking Icas to his feet.

"Thank you, Captain obvious," Baccus snapped, earning a look of reproach from the Fantan Brigade leader.

In the meantime, Kimi and Viral were sitting in a patch of grass not too far from the campsite. Viral was too drained to start a conversation, or even care about starting one, so he waited to see what Kimi would say or do.

At the moment she was lost in her thoughts. Viral's rant, along with Aria's words, helped her reach an important conclusion. She didn't really know anything about Viral. Sure, she had admired him years ago, but even then she hadn't known much. And yeah, they had seemed to get along well at the beginning of their reunion, but she was finally realizing just how little she actually knew about him. It was doubtful that he would be willing to let her into his life, and even more doubtful that he wanted to be a part of hers. She had said they were friends, but were they really?

Viral watched the emotions play across her face without actually interpreting or processing them. Eventually he managed to form two coherent thoughts; that it was rather inconvenient to not be able to focus and that he wanted to sleep. Letting out seven years' worth of frustrations would have made anyone tired, immortal or not. So, with Kimi finally ready to start talking to him he curled up on the ground and fell asleep.

For Kimi it was a novel thing for two reasons. First, Viral had assured her that he didn't need sleep. Obviously that was incorrect, but only when he had completely exhausted himself. Second, he had actually moved closer to her before lying down. She had purposely put some distance between them when she first sat on the grass, and he had suddenly closed some of the distance. They weren't touching, but if Kimi wanted to she could brush the hair from his face without straining herself.

Kimi almost laughed when he started snoring. She was aware that most of her impressions of him were wrong, but it still seemed out of character for him to be making such an undignified noise, even if he was asleep.

She stretched out on the grass next to him. Tomorrow she would start her campaign to earn Viral's friendship and get him to accept hers. For now, though, they could both use a little sleep.


	14. Mental Breakdown pt2

Also known as RETURN OF THE DEMON HAY!

This will be the last thing I post for a while since classes start on Monday. Maybe it will be even longer for this story in particular since I have a few other ideas I want to work on.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. Please rate/review!

P.S. I own Kimi and the Name-change Brigade, but not the Gurren Lagann series. I lament this fact on a regular basis.

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><p>"Is he dead?"<p>

"I don't think so."

Viral felt a sharp jab in his side. Other than that, he was relatively unaware of what was happening.

"You idiot! Do you want him to wake up and kill us?"

"You were the one who thought he was dead. What does it matter if I poke him? He deserves it anyway."

That was a woman's voice and… two men? He was beginning to get back to reality. His side still hurt where it had been jabbed and his throat hurt as well. Why? Oh, right, he had been yelling at the top of his lungs.

A breeze played with the strands of hair on his face and brought with it the scents of Refka, Kaoru, and Baccus. He bolted upright, causing the three members of the Spades Brigade to jump and Refka to squeal out that infinitely obnoxious note. He pushed aside his irritation. _Where's Kimi_? He looked around the clearing, ignoring the headache that the bright midday sun was making worse.

"So you are conscious! There are a few things that need to be said about your behavior last night!"

Viral's ears started ringing. No Kimi, but a loudmouthed bastard. _What a great situation to wake up to after having let out years of frustration,_ he thought sarcastically.

"Such as?" Viral snapped, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible so that he could go and find Kimi.

"I… that is, we understand why you would be frustrated," Baccus began.

"But that was no reason to vent your frustrations on Icas!"

"And?" Viral prompted, hoping that they would get to the point quickly. He was still groggy, and it was effectively interfering with his ability to be properly pissed and come up with a more clever response.

"We _were_ going to throw you out of the Checkerboard Brigade," Refka explained.

"But?" Viral asked, his usual frustration beginning to return. Normally these people, especially Kaoru, couldn't shut up, and suddenly he needed to pry all of the answers out of them? This was just freaking ridiculous. He also vaguely wondered when he had accidentally become a member of the stupid brigade.

"You're lucky to have Kimi on your side," was the only reply Baccus offered.

Kimi had defended his behavior? Or had she just threatened to take her mechanic skills elsewhere?

"So we are letting you off with a light punishment!"

_Yippee_, Viral thought sarcastically. "What would that be?" he asked, finally standing so that he could be on eye level and look less vulnerable.

"First," Baccus elaborated, "You are going to put finisher on this wooden carving of Kamina."

The beastman gestured behind Viral, who turned around to see a life size statue of Kamina. A small chill went down his spine as he stared at the wooden likeness of his mortal enemy. But he suppressed it. Painting on the wood finisher was a simple enough task and-

What the hell? Where had that thing even come from? It definitely hadn't been there when he was looking around for Kimi earlier!

"Second, you will be playing the lead role in my musicale; Ode to a Pigmole!" Kaoru shouted.

Viral turned around to see Kaoru wearing a tutu. A pink one. Viral didn't know whether to laugh or vomit. And where the hell had the tutu come from anyway? There was no way the frilly thing would have fit into the vocal bastards pants. Viral was moderately disturbed when he bothered to notice that Kaoru wasn't wearing proper ballet slippers.

"Last," Refka started. A horrible sick feeling washed over Viral. This was going to be the worst of all, he just knew it.

She pointed to his left. "In that pile of hay," she continued.

It shouldn't have been physically possible for him to turn his head that fast, but he did it anyway. He could already feel the prickling in his eyes and nose as he cringed away from the massive mountain of hay. He just prayed that it was something simple like 'in that pile of hay is a needle. Find it.'

"You are going to have sex with me."

Viral broke the laws of physics for the second time in 30 seconds as he turned to look at Refka who was running towards him, naked…

* * *

><p>"AAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHH!" Viral screamed as loudly as his hoarse throat permitted. He jerked his head from side to side, looking around wildly. Eventually his wide eyes started sending him images of the real world. The Hearts Brigade, minus Icas, were all sitting a few feet in front of him, looking as though they had been startled.<p>

"I told you not to poke him," Refka snapped at Baccus, who was clutching his own tail as though he was afraid Viral would come over and rip it off.

"What?" Viral gasped dumbly, trying to drag oxygen back into his lungs and calm his flailing heart. A dream. It was only a dream.

"VIRAL!" The addressed beastman cringed in pain as his eardrums were assaulted. "YOUR BEHVIOR LAST NIGHT WAS INCORRIGABLE! You should use all of that rage for something constructive!" Kaoru shouted from his position on the ground.

Viral resisted the urge to cover his ears as he observed the Pinochle Brigade, who had apparently recovered from their initial shock at his outburst, and were now glaring at him. Resentment started to well up inside of him, though he had no idea why. He forced his expression into one of indifference, refusing to acknowledge that he had done something wrong.

"Yeah, yeah. Where's Kimi?" he asked, suddenly noting her absence. As soon as the words left his mouth he wanted to slap himself, not because it reminded him of his dream or the fact that she shouldn't be his first concern, but because he should already know the answer. Obviously she was fixing Enki.

"She's taking a walk on the beach," Domon answered.

Or not so obviously she was taking a walk on the beach.

"I'm going to teach her how to swim later," he continued.

What? Viral was supposed to be teaching her. Oh wait, they were fighting. Or were they? All of the confusion of the previous day chose that moment to hit him like Refka almost-

_It was a dream, it was a dream, don't think about it_, he chanted to himself. He didn't need a heaping helping of confusion with a side of trauma now did he?

Domon stood, regaining Viral's attention. "I just want to make one thing clear; we need Kimi, but we don't need you, and if you harass my brother again…" he trailed off as he cracked his knuckles.

Sure, Domon was beefy, but Viral was immortal, so the threat really held no sway with the beastman. He didn't care about that little idiot. All he wanted was to make sure that Kimi accomplished her mission.

"It won't happen again," Viral assured them, if only so he could get away. He stood and headed in the direction of the beach, hoping he could sort out some of the confusion whirling around his head. He honestly felt better now that he had vented some of his anger, but there was still Kimi's odd behavior to deal with. It was suspicious how she had suddenly decided to try to include him, and even more suspicious that she hadn't started yelling at him last night.

He was a little startled when the person occupying his thoughts suddenly appeared as he maneuvered around King. She looked equally surprised to see him.

All thoughts fled his mind as he stood in front of her, staring at her while she stared back. If only he could get his throat to work and say something instead of standing and gawking like an imbecile. Of course, he wasn't entirely to blame for the awkward silence. She had vocal chords too, didn't she?

Finally, the cat got his own tongue back and said, "Hey."

As soon as the single syllable word left his mouth he wished he could slap his forehead, but then that would have been even more humiliating. Not only did he sound completely unintelligent, but it brought up less than pleasant images of his dream. Damn tongue.

"Hey," she replied almost shyly. "What did they have to say?"

Viral snorted, some of his old attitude rising to the surface in order to save face. "Nothing important."

"Oh."

Well, that was certainly disappointing. Why wasn't she prying? Clearly he didn't want to talk about it, which meant that she was supposed to pester him about it in a typical human woman fashion. She had always pried into his business, back when they had first known each other.

Now was not the time for wistful thoughts of the past, Viral thought as he veered back to the main road and off of memory lane, managing to hit a pedestrian thought in the process. Not that they were actually wistful memories, because Viral didn't do wistful. Now was the time to demand answers and sate his own curiosity.

"Why is Domon teaching you to swim?"

Not the question he wanted to ask. Curse his infernal tongue! The damn thing seemed to have been on autopilot since yesterday. Even ripping it out wouldn't have done any good, considering it would just regenerate.

"Ah!" she was startled out of her own thoughts. "Ah, well, I know you don't have the pa- I mean, I know it's bothersome for you, so I thought it would be better if I didn't try to force you to teach me."

He knew she had been about to say that he didn't have the patience. Yet she had stopped herself and opted for the more diplomatic route. Why was she suddenly giving him so much consideration when just two days ago they had been up in each others faces? It was creeping him the heck out.

When she frowned he realized he had been staring at her for much longer than proper, and he had yet to reply. _Think of something intelligent, think, think, think_!

"Oh." What the hell was wrong with him today? _Say something else_! "Good, this way I won't have to deal with your incompetence."

She scowled like he had hoped, but she didn't say anything, so he added, "You had better finish that ganman soon; I'm getting sick of waiting and listening to those fools and their nightly lectures on _justice_." He put as much venom into his voice as he could, yet she still said nothing. Why wasn't he getting a rise out of her?

But then she spoke and managed to disappoint him even further. "_Your _ganman will be finished tomorrow, and I promise not to let Kaoru direct the conversation tonight. Although, if I'm the one leading the talk, then it's going to be about ganmen mechanics. Are you sure you prefer that?" Her tone was even and almost amiable.

"Yeah," he replied, unable to come up with anything better. He walked away from her and toward the cliffs, leaving all of his other questions unasked for the moment.

_This is so wrong_, he thought as he walked slowly up the incline. He should be pleased that Kimi was suddenly being courteous, but it was almost as though he missed the arguments. The fights they had put them on even ground. Not that she could out-debate him, but he had known where she stood and, more importantly, where he stood. All of a sudden she had completely turned her behavior around and he no longer had a glimpse into the workings of her mind. And, with her position suddenly changed, he wondered where that left him. He hadn't even been this confused when she had first randomly appeared in his life all those years ago.

He hated not knowing what was happening.

But it didn't matter, did it, because he wanted to leave, didn't he? Hadn't he said he was sick of all the crap he had to put up with because of her? Did he suddenly want to stay?

Too many questions all at once! Viral used an imaginary club to beat all of the wayward thoughts into submission, and then had them line up single file. He picked through each one carefully and in order until he arrived at a simple conclusion: there was no simple conclusion. Based on this conclusion, he needed to gather more facts, which meant remaining with Kimi and analyzing her behavior. It was rational, logical, and did absolutely nothing to make him feel better.

F**k logic. He didn't have a single clue as to why he was really staying, but trying to pick his motivation apart any further would leave him even more emotionally frayed than he already was.

Despite the raving he had done last night, outwardly he was as composed as ever, at least. Right now he felt a little raw on the inside, but he knew that eventually he would calm down and be able to think this through properly, and with a little less 'f**k logic.'

He moved his focus outward once more and found that he was almost to the top. Increasing his pace he pulled himself onto the last ledge and looked around. It didn't take him long to spot Rook's footprints, and it only took slightly longer for him to follow them to Enki.

The ganman was in a sorry state. Pieces of junk metal were scattered around the limp machine, and almost everything in sight was covered in rust, including the trees. The rust dust must have blown onto the plants when Kimi had been scraping the hull clean; he could see some portions that had been worked on more thoroughly than others. He took a closer look at the pieces lying around. She had practically gutted the whole thing from what he could tell. Viral, even with his familiarity with Enki, would have taken at least a month to do by himself what she had accomplished in a week. Once more he had to admit she was a superior mechanic. Of course, she had genetics on her side, in more ways than one. _Then again, the other one never showed any talent._

He supposed it really didn't matter. She was highly skilled, regardless of the reason. And she had been generous enough to toil over his ganman despite his repeatedly voiced indifference. That gave him pause. Maybe she hadn't just suddenly started being nice. Maybe he was just suddenly starting to notice the kindness that was already there.

He went up to Enki and touched the hull. This once proud ganman, his once prized possession, was nothing more than garbage, and was only being allowed to move once more by the grace of a puzzling mechanic. He climbed inside the cockpit, where the repairs were obviously continuing. On the inside Enki looked even more tragic, but Viral was sure it was a vast improvement from whatever condition Kimi had originally discovered it in.

He sat down in the pilot's seat and remembered. He remembered what it was like to fight, to run, to hunt, to feel superior to all other beings, save for his creator and the four great generals. He remembered what it was like to taste defeat, to feel frustration for the first time in his existence, to have his pride stripped away as he realized how pathetic he truly was in the grand scheme of things, all at the hands of that damn naked ape.

A scowl contorted his face, but his anger didn't hit a peak as it had the previous night. Instead it leveled off at his usual level of resentment. Yup, he was getting back to his usual bitter self.

Viral gracefully leapt out of his old ganman. It might be useful, almost nice, to have it up and running again. Gratitude was not something he was into displaying, however. He would just tell Kimi that it was adequate and that since she had worked so hard he might as well pilot it. There was a tiny part of him that wondered if she would understand the true meaning behind the indifferent words. There was an even tinier part that hoped she would understand, a part which was abruptly eaten by a shark.

Oh yes, he was certainly getting back to his old self.


	15. Mental Breakdown pt3

In this chapter, Viral learns a lesson in both physics and human anatomy... the hard way.

I'm most likely going to alternate updating this story and Unconditional, so bear with me if there's a long stretch between chapters!

Also, at some point, I will be returning to the actual plot that I set up soooooooo many chapters ago. I promise.

P.S. I own Kimi and the What's-Their-Name-This-Time Brigade, but not Viral or anything Gurren Lagann. If I did, there would be even more awkward scenes like this one.

* * *

><p>Upon returning to the campsite Viral discovered that Icas was gathering firewood. The human stopped in his track and nearly dropped the wood he was carrying when he spotted Viral. They stood there, staring at each other for long moments. Viral was hoping to have a little fun with the obviously nervous boy, despite his better judgment and already strained relationship with Kimi, and smiled a toothy smirk.<p>

"I'm not afraid of you," the boy boldly declared.

Viral was a little put off when he heard how even the human's voice was, but he wasn't giving up just yet. His grin turned more sadistic, earning a satisfying shudder from the brunette boy. "Then you're even more stupid than you look."

Icas scowled, but didn't seem to have the courage, or perhaps the intelligence, needed to fight back. Already bored, Viral let his usual scowl fall into place and headed to the beach to see what the rest of the Euchre Brigade was doing. If he just happened to see how Kimi's swimming lessons were going then that would be alright. Not that it mattered, because he wasn't going to specifically see her. It wouldn't really make a difference. Really.

Almost as soon as he arrived he regretted his decision to head to the beach. Refka was running after Domon, screaming bloody murder in that high pitch voice that would have made a dogbear lie in front of an oncoming truck. Viral assumed Domon had done something unforgivable, though he didn't know what until he realized that the woman had her arms crossed over her breasts and Domon was holding a skimpy piece of brightly colored cloth.

Just as Refka was about to catch him, Domon tossed it to a startled Baccus, who had seemed to be, until that point, an innocent bystander. Refka quickly changed direction and charged full speed at the beastman. Poor Baccus panicked and tossed the bikini top to Kaoru, instead of simply giving it back to its owner, but it was too late. Refka head butted him in the stomach, successfully knocking the wind out of him and sending him flying for a few feet before she turned to face Kaoru. Her face was a mottled red color and she was panting so heavily that Viral was surprised she didn't pass out. She paused, and then let out an earsplitting shriek as she sprinted at Kaoru. He simply stood there, looking like the cocky bastard Viral thought he was with his arms crossed over his chest, the top hanging loosely from his hand.

Viral wondered what he was up to. Certainly the fool wasn't going to let Refka tackle him. The grinning bastard might be larger, but unless the laws of physics had suddenly changed then Viral knew that mass multiplied by acceleration equaled force. And judging by the way the small mass that was Refka was accelerating the idiot leader of the Rummy Brigade was in for more than a few bruises. Unless, of course, the vulgar human was looking to get at her chest. There were more efficient ways of doing that, however. Based on the way Refka behaved she was sexually frustrated. All the simpleton would have to do is ask her to take her top off, and Viral didn't doubt for a second that she would. Was that how this scene had started? If so, then what was the grinning fool planning to do?

At the last possible second, Kaoru whipped the top at Viral and sidestepped Refka, who managed to somehow alter her course without losing any momentum. Viral looked down at the lime green cloth that was suddenly in his possession. He looked up to see Refka coming toward him at full speed, and Kaoru grinning at him with an almost Viral-like sadistic grin. Oh, so _that's_ what the bastard was planning.

Without hesitating Viral tossed the bikini top at her in hopes of avoiding a collision. She reached out with one hand to grab it and just managed to wrap her fingers around the string when the unthinkable happened. She tripped.

Viral had seen her go for the top and forget about him, so he assumed he would be safe regardless of whether or not he moved. A poor assumption, as she was now airborne and rocketing at him at a high velocity.

Half a second later he became more acquainted with Refka's breasts than he ever wanted to be.

He wished he had just walked away when he had the chance, because now he was reliving that nightmare and the sheer shock was making it difficult for him to move. He could hear the three members of the Solitaire Brigade howling with laughter in the background as Refka tried to hoist herself up and extract Viral's face from her cleavage.

Then the laughter stopped. Viral, still underneath Refka, looked between her legs to see why they had suddenly fallen silent. They were staring at something that was, relative to his head, above him. He and Refka both looked at the shocked faces of Icas and Kimi at the same time.

Everyone spent a good twenty seconds having a stare-off. Viral watched Icas' expression changed from shock to anger, and Kimi's from anger to disappointment. Why would she be disappointed by the fact that it definitely looked worse than it actually was? More importantly, what was that strange sensation in his gut? Guilt, he recognized it eventually, and forced it down in a very violent and cruel fashion. He growled and pushed Refka off of him, not very hard since he really didn't want to add fuel to the fire by hurting her, but hard enough to break the spell of silence that had fallen over the assembled group.

He stood as Refka quickly put her bikini top back on her chest. They both glared at Kaoru who only grinned sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders. Later tonight, Viral vowed, the man would abruptly find he no longer had a di-

"What happened?" Icas snapped, regaining Viral's attention. The fury the boy was feeling was so strong that Viral's animal instincts started screaming at him to attack. But he held himself in check and only smirked. Clearly the boy was jealous, despite his earlier attempts at trying not to appear attracted to Refka.

The smirk died an unremarkable death as his gaze shifted to Kimi, who looked… Well, he really couldn't tell. Her face had an expression he had never seen on it. She was unreadable at the moment, which only served to put Viral on edge. One wrong word would completely end whatever sort of tenuous relationship they had.

"Nothing worth getting upset over," Viral gave the uncharacteristic reply in a cool tone. He was more than a little surprised that he was speaking more to Kimi than to Icas. It didn't matter whether or not Kimi believed him, trusted him. It shouldn't matter.

Everyone was surprised when Domon spoke up, "We- that is, Kaoru and I- were just having some fun when Viral happened along…" He trailed off as his brother turned his angry gaze toward the real culprits.

All hell- well, at least all hell for a beastman with supersensitive ears- broke out, and Refka started shouting at the top of her lungs at Kaoru and Domon, the latter looking ashamed and the former not even flinching, as though he couldn't hear, while Baccus tried to calm the shrieker down.

As much as he wanted to cringe in pain Viral kept his expression neutral instead of looking like he wanted to use his meat cleavers to murder someone by dicing them up into little bite-sized cubes as he and Kimi continued to stare at one another. Kimi still had that odd expression and Viral wished she would say something.

Then her lip twitched. Viral watched it, anxiety bubbling up. It twitched again and he practically snapped at her to spit it out. Then she did something totally unexpected. She started laughing. I wasn't just a little chuckle that developed into full blown guffaws. No, it started out as full blown guffaws with a couple of snorts thrown in for good measure. She clutched her belly as she doubled over before falling to the ground. She rocked back and forth in the dirt in a highly undignified manner while everyone watched in confused disturbance.

When she finally managed to calm down a tiny bit, she gasped out, "You should see your face!" between peals of laughter.

His face? Viral carefully considered his expression. Nope, there was nothing wrong; his usual scowl was perfectly in place. Did he have dirt on it from his tumble earlier? He wiped his cheek. It was oddly warm, he thought briefly…

Viral tensed. He placed the hand back on his cheek only to discover that it was indeed warm. His face was hot, and that could only mean one thing. He was blushing!

_Damnit_! "Stop laughing! It isn't funny!" he snapped, his face suddenly so hot he could feel it creeping down his neck.

Apparently his embarrassment at being embarrassed was highly amusing, because all he accomplished was making her laugh even harder. Even the human members of the Crazy Eights Brigade could hear how much trouble she was having with getting air into her lungs. If she didn't calm done soon she would most certainly pass out.

"Cut it out! I said stop!"

She started crying she was laughing so hard. "It hurts!" The comment was followed by more howls of amusement.

Viral clenched his fists. Oh, how he would love to be able to shake her until her teeth fell out. How dare she mock him! His displeasure came out as a low growl that was inaudible due to the noise Kimi was continuing to make.

That was the last straw. He was going back to the campsite before the Bridge Brigade realized why she was laughing at him. If she passed out then it served her right. As he passed her though, she grabbed his pant leg. "Wa-wait," she gasped, her breathing hoarse as she tried to calm herself.

Her laughter died down. Her own cheeks were flushed, probably from her smile, which was still wide, and her eyes were bright from tears as well as merriment. He hadn't seen her that happy before, and it really made her look beautifu-

The sound of screeching tires echoed in Viral's head as he brought that thought to an abrupt stop. That was one road he definitely was positive he did not want to go down. He was an immortal beastman. She was a mortal human. He was not attracted to her damnit! He couldn't be!

"What do you want?" he snapped, not caring for once if his inner turmoil altered his tone.

She gasped once more before speaking. "I'm sorry. I just didn't think you _could_!" she said, referring to his blush, leaving the members of the War Brigade still clueless as to what the heck was going on with the giggling girl.

"Foolish girl, I have blood in my veins the same as you do. Now let go," he ordered as he tugged his leg away from her. Apology was not accepted.

"C'mon, Viral, don't be mad." She managed to stop laughing and sit up but she refused to let go of him.

"Too late. Now let go!"

Kimi pouted. "Not until I know you aren't mad at me."

He made an irritated noise in the back of his throat. She _needed_ to stop pouting at him like that. "Fine! I'm not mad!"

"You're not very convincing, you know that?" But she let go of him anyway, allowing him to make a hasty retreat.

* * *

><p>"Tell us, Viral, are they as squishy as they look?"<p>

Honestly, everyone was surprised that the comment hadn't come out of Kaoru's mouth.

There was a dull thud as a particularly blunt log from the pile next to the campfire made contact with the back of Domon's head. The man slumped forward as Refka stood behind him, brandishing the log while gritting her teeth so loudly Viral wondered how she still had any. Then she shot a glare at the beastman who smartly kept his mouth shut. He wondered how on today of all days Kimi had managed to convince him to sit with the rest of the group.

No one bothered to revive Domon as they quietly enjoyed their meal of grapehippo steaks, despite the fact that Domon had been the one to kill the beast and prepare the supper.

Viral actually didn't mind sitting so close to everyone else, but only because they were being quiet in the face of what had happened over the past 24 hours. And it was actually sort of entertaining how Icas kept giving him looks of seething hatred when the boy thought he wasn't looking, only to cringe in fear whenever Viral deemed it was time to make the boy sweat by returning the look. Yes, it wasn't so bad this evening.

He just knew deep down in his soul that the universe would be making up tomorrow for cutting him some slack tonight.

Baccus yawned and stretched, saying goodnight to his comrades as he made himself comfortable on a nearby rock. Kaoru, Refka, and Icas, after a long day of acting like lunatics, turned in as well. Nobody bothered to move Domon, figuring that unconscious was as good as asleep, and if he could be comfortably "asleep" where he was then he could just stay there.

Viral didn't even bother with the pretense of going to sleep as the sun descended behind the horizon, and the Cassino Brigade members were either too worn out or too concussed to notice.

"Are you happy?"

The question came out of nowhere, blindsiding him with the force of a charging eliphino. "What?" was all Viral could manage.

Kimi repeated, "Are you happy?"

Viral just stared at her. Was he happy? "Why do you want to know?" he asked accusingly.

"It's important to me." She kept her eyes on the slowly dying fire.

"Obviously, or you wouldn't have asked. What I want to know is why it's important to you," he explained slowly, as though she was a dimwit.

She turned to face him, her eyes melancholy. "You're my friend."

His skin felt like it was crawling. He turned his gaze to his arm as he absentmindedly scratched it, his claws doing little to dull the sensation. The prickling continued, so he paused in his ministrations to stare at said claws. He shouldn't have such a hard time making some sort of reply, yet it was more difficult than he would have thought.

"Are we?" His tongue felt so heavy and sluggish as he forced out the question. The stupid thing was acting up again.

Kimi decided that his arm was fascinating at that moment. "I'd like us to be."

"We fight all of the time."

She sighed. "I know, and that's part of the reason I'm asking if you're happy. I want to know if you have a reason to stay." It was a gentle whisper, almost lost beneath the crackling of the burning wood.

Viral let out a sigh of his own. "I haven't been happy since Teppelin fell, but only because I realized just how pathetic everything was. I think, even before then, I wasn't genuinely happy. I had pride, and perhaps contentment. The only time I came close to being happy…" _Was when I first knew you_, he thought. When they had first known each other, he had her admiration, her attention. Despite the fact that Kimi hadn't had a clue about the atrocities he had committed, her interest was genuine, and that feeling had continued to present day, he realized with something akin to shock.

Kimi, on her end, was practically reeling from the fact that he was opening up to her. She knew he was never going to tell her the rest of his thought, so she didn't press him. Instead she sat beside him silently as they both continued to stare at his arm without really seeing it.

Across the fire pit, Domon groaned, signaling to the indifferent pair that he was indeed still alive.


	16. Segue to Plot

Oh, would you look at that, I think I see some plot :D

Anyway, I decided to bump up my posting schedule despite the fact that I am behind on this week's school assignments and have a huge "sales pitch presentation" next week which is freaking me out so much I literally feel like throwing up. So my solution to the problem was to ignore all of my "real" responsibilities and write a new chapter. I think it was a good choice.

I do own Kimi and the Can-Barely-Remember-Their-Original-Name Brigade, but not Gurren Lagann. If I did, I wouldn't have to worry about trivial things such as homework.

**EDIT:** Special thanks to Brobrofireflower who pointed out a rather obvious and embarrassing mistake I made when spelling the Mahjong Brigade's name :)

* * *

><p>Viral continued to stare at the long burned-out embers of the previous night's fires as he thought about the last few weeks. Ever since Kimi had arrived back in his life he had been nothing but a mass of roiling emotions and questions. Viral was a curious guy, but never before had he questioned every little thing that he did or felt, especially considering he had never before felt so many things that needed questioning. That was why he was currently trying to observe the situation from an outsider's point of view.<p>

He had wanted a release from boredom, he had wanted excitement, and he had gotten it, just not in the way that he had expected. In that aspect, he could hardly complain that Kimi had brought too much stress into his life.

Then there were his unexpected and fundamentally wrong relationship with her. It was no longer something he could deny, to himself at least. They were beginning to become, he wretched at the thought, _friends_, most likely born out of whatever fondness he had held for her upon their original interactions. Though, a small part of him was still adamantly stating that the only reason for this … _ friendship… _was because he didn't spend enough time with anyone else, and therefore had no other opportunities to form a bond.

( Viral's note: It was most certainly not attraction he was feeling, because that would just be weird. Super weird. But it wasn't happening, so the weirdness was a moot point anyway. Nothing was going to move past the friend zone. Nope. Not gonna happen. At all.)

Regardless of the reason, he wasn't going to let any feelings develop or openly acknowledge it. That was a path to ruin for the both of them.

Satisfied with his logical conclusion, he continued to stare at the blackened wood as the sun rose higher in the sky.

…

Who the hell was he kidding? He was _not_ satisfied with that conclusion, he was _not_ calm about it, and he sure as fuck was _not_ flirting with that… that… _woman_ who had turned his life into a living nightmare to rival his encounters with that damn-

"YOUTH IS A GLORIOUS THING! YOU SHOULDN'T WASTE IT ATTEMPTING TO INTIMIDATE A STICK INTO RELIGHTING ITSELF!"

Furious at having his eardrums assaulted yet again, Viral snarled at the bastard standing not two feet away from him, "That is it!"

Viral leapt to his feet and took a swing at the man, only to have his blow sidestepped. He swung a few more times, his unfettered rage causing the shots to be wild and inaccurate.

"What are you doing?"

It was almost comical how those four simple words caused his whole body to fill with a deep sense of '_oh shit I'm in trouble now'_ and cause him to lose his balance and fall flat on his face. Almost. Well, comical for everyone except for the beastman whose face was buried in the dirt.

"I…" he started as he rubbed his nose, but stopped when he saw the smirk on Kaoru's face.

'Lapdog,' the leader of the Kemps Brigade mouthed. If Kimi had been able to see it from her point of view she might have whacked Kaoru herself and saved Viral the trouble.

But as it was she couldn't see Kaoru's expression, so before she could say anything else the bad feelings in Viral were replaced with more violent ones and he lunged at Kaoru, claws extended. The sunglasses wearing freak saw it coming and managed to sidestep, causing Viral to hit a tree, claws extended. Viral sweat dropped as he realized his claws were extended. Right into the tree. _Shit._

The rest of the Spoons Brigade, save for Domon, had showed up just as Viral lunged, and were now laughing. Kaoru stood beside Kimi, smirking that provocative smirk. Kimi just stood, appearing as though she wasn't sure whether she should laugh at or scold Viral. Viral, in the meantime, was trying to extract himself from the tree, with little luck. He couldn't even retract his claws because of how they were embedded. Eventually he propped both of his feet on the tree and forced himself out, landing in a graceless heap on the ground.

"USE YOUR ENEMIES STRENGTH AGAINST HIM! An important lesson for you to learn, Viral, courtesy of THE MIGHTY CHECKERBOARD BRIGADE!"

Strength? Since when was lack of anger management skills considered a strength? Then Viral remembered who he was dealing with and decided he was better off not asking any questions, if only for the fact that he valued what little sanity he had left.

"How about I go work on Enki while Domon gives you swim lessons?" Viral asked Kimi, completely ignoring the Egyptian Rat Screw Brigade. Whether it was because he couldn't trust himself not to murder them or because he had little interest in being embarrassed again he wasn't entirely certain. He settled on the explanation that it was in his best interest to get away from these fools before their stupidity wore off on him.

"Um, Domon has a concussion, remember?" Kimi said, opting to point out the obvious instead of asking why Viral was suddenly being so nice and taking her wants into consideration. She had a feeling the answer to that question would be laced with sarcasm.

He refused to smack his forehead as he stared at the still unconscious yet alive human. How could he forget?

"I WILL AID YOU IN YOUR QUEST TO FROLIC AMONGST THE FISHES!"

Not only was Viral opposed to having that imbecile hanging around Kimi when she was half dressed, but the choice of words was questionable as well. Seriously, that freak liked the word 'frolic' a little too much. Then again, maybe it would be better for the both of them if Viral got some alone time and Kimi learned from her new human friend.

"Forget it, I'll teach her myself." Just because something was better didn't mean he had to do it. Hell, with the way things had been going lately it was in his best interest to not do the best thing to do and simply expect the worst.

The whole group fell silent, save for the still groaning Domon. Viral started to walk toward the beach, Kimi falling into step behind him, and Refka and Kaoru following behind her. Baccus, finally taking pity on his teammate now that Refka was no longer around to beat him up for helping the man who had infuriated her yesterday, stayed behind to try to revive Domon.

It didn't take Viral long to realize that he was wasting his time. It wasn't the fact that Kimi was completely inept. In fact it was the exact opposite. She had all of the basics down so well he really didn't know what to show her next.

"Why didn't you tell me you didn't need any more help?" he snapped, putting his usual level of irritation into his tone.

"I was just so surprised by the offer," she replied sheepishly as she came out of a back float.

He let a deep breath out of his nose. With the prospect of Kaoru being too 'handsy' with her gone, he really didn't feel like staying on the beach. Especially when Refka was still staring at him as though he was the prime specimen of the male gender despite his breakdown a few days prior. It was also contradictory to her anger when his face had been suction cupped between her breasts yesterday.

"I'm going to work on Enki. You don't need me." That shouldn't have sounded so bitter. Because he wasn't bitter. He wasn't. Honestly.

"I'll go with you," Kimi spat out quickly when Kaoru gave her an almost too friendly grin.

The pair of teens looked disappointed as the other pair took their leave.

They walked in silence, only stopping at the campsite for Kimi to get her boots, shirt, and the toolbox. It was no longer necessary for them to take Rook since the final repairs dealt mostly with wires and small pieces of equipment. And since they weren't taking Rook, Viral offered to carry the toolbox, (offered meaning snatched before she could say anything) despite the fact that he knew that Kimi didn't have any trouble carrying the cumbersome object.

They were halfway up the mountain when a familiar noise reached Viral's ears. He stopped in his tracks and tilted his head to the side. It sounded like a ganman engine. It was probably just Rook or King. He shook it off and continued walking only to stop again, this time Kimi noticed that he was tense. The reason: he heard more than two engines.

"Something wrong?" Kimi asked, feeling a weight settle in her stomach. She could tell from his tense stance and thoughtful expression that something bad was happening.

He turned his gaze back to the campsite, where there was an unusual amount of reflection, as though there was a small battalion of ganmen.

"Can Enki move?" he asked without turning back to her, his voice calm despite the anticipation curling in his belly like a monster hiding from an even bigger monster. His instincts clambered in the fight or flight reflex and he knew, beyond a doubt, that the Grapearl Squad had found them.

She did not like where this conversation was headed. "The guns aren't operational, the arms aren't up to sword-combat, and I need about 10 minutes to attach the rest of the wires to make it mobile." She had a feeling he wanted to know about the fighting capabilities even if he hadn't asked.

And he _had_ indeed wanted to know if they could fight their way out in the event they were caught.

He sniffed the air tentatively. They were downwind from Enki thankfully, so he could tell that in spite of the fact that they appeared to be cornered they might have an escape route. They were far enough away that it was unlikely the rusted ganman's movements would attract attention, and using Enki would get them away more quickly than walking.

"Get ready to run," he told her as he finally turned to look at her in order to hand over the toolbox.

Kimi took the toolbox hesitantly but calmly. When Viral started walking away, however, she panicked as the meaning of his actions set in. "You're not going there are you? You might as well hand yourself to them on a silver platter with an apple in your mouth!"

"I'm doing some reconnaissance. Also, there's a chance the officers are simply waiting for us to return to the campsite and haven't been to the beach yet. It might be possible to get away with everyone else," he explained as he continued to walk away, only pausing briefly when Kimi spoke again.

"I thought you didn't like them?" It sounded like a question rather than a statement.

He glanced at her over his shoulder. She stood tall with the toolbox in her hands, her eyes nervous yet determined. This wasn't the first time she had to escape the law. Viral doubted it would be her last.

An ominous feeling accompanied that last thought. He couldn't worry about it now, though, so he made a quick reply before darting back down the mountain. "I don't."

"Yet there you are, going to save them anyway," Kimi mumbled to herself as Viral disappeared from view.

Kimi ran as fast as she could, hoping Viral would return quickly with the Checkerboard Brigade, and wondering what would happen if he didn't.


	17. Departure

A/N at the end this time around. There are spoilers so read the chapter first.

Warning: this chapter gets sort of violent. May boost rating if people have a hissie-fit.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gurren Lagann. I don't have quite enough skill to handle such an awe-inspiring, heartwrenching responsibility

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><p>Viral crawled on his belly over the final ridge and stared down at the campsite. All five of the renegades were tied up and leaning against a boulder, while an officer in a white and blue bodysuit read something to them out of a book. About 40 other officers stood around them, some with guns trained on the rogues, others simply looking bored. It seemed highly extreme to have so many officers for such a small group of vigilantes. Viral couldn't help but smirk at the proof that the new government was even more incompetent than he had originally thought. When the apparent head officer suddenly snapped his book shut Viral flinched, his entire body tense and his nerves on edge. Chances of the Tens and Twos Brigade escaping were slim to none.<p>

"Tell us where the traitor is!" the officer snapped, moving to stand right in front of Kaoru.

"NEVER!"

There was a slapping noise as the butt of the officer's gun connected with Kaoru's face, knocking the sunglasses off. The idiotic bastard just kept grinning as he looked at the Grapearl Squad defiantly.

"We know she's here somewhere. A Wolf-beastman we picked up yesterday told us that she had seen the girl known as Kimi. If any of you tells us where she is, you will be rewarded with your freedom. If not…" the officer concluded, leaving the unspoken threat hanging in the air.

Viral was grateful that they all remained quiet, but he couldn't help but wonder about the beastman that the head officer had mentioned. He didn't have time to consider it too thoroughly before the conversation started up again.

"She's just a girl, hardly anything to be afraid of," Baccus hissed, and was rewarded with a rifle to his face by one of the other officers.

"We do not fear the girl!"

Icas smirked, "Then why are you so desperate to find her?"

This time it was an extremely hard hit to the stomach, making Viral wince. If only the stupid officers would look away for a few moments, he knew he could sneak behind the boulder and cut the ropes off of his somewhat allies. He needed a distraction.

And for half a second, he thought the universe (for once) had heard his prayers and decided to have mercy on him. The second half of the second filled him with a dread he had never felt before as he realized (yet again) that the universe was a sadist.

The officers snapped their head in the direction of the seaside cliffs, forcing Viral to duck down and seek more appropriate shelter as he forced himself to calm down. The noise that had emanated from the cliffs had been the unmistakable sound of a ganman falling to the ground, though thankfully it didn't sound as though it had taken a tumble down the cliff.

The officers were distracted and confused, but in a few moments they would realize what was happening and go after Kimi. He had to free the Kings in the Corner Brigade, and fast!

Throwing caution to the wind, knowing time was of the essence, he leapt the rest of the way, completely blowing his cover, and cut Baccus free as he was landing in an effort to save precious seconds. Now free, Baccus quickly bolted toward Rook, darting past several officers and breaking them out of their reverie. By the time the head officer turned around once more Viral had freed the others and was reaching for the human's rifle.

The officer back-stepped but Viral kept on him, despite the shots coming from the other officer's guns. The adrenaline was pounding through him, making his entire body numb to the searing pain as the energy bullets pierced his hide. Finally the man tripped and fell backward, and Viral took the opportunity to snatch the rifle from the man's slackened grip. He brought the butt of it down on the man's head and was rewarded with a satisfying crunching noise which was followed with the tantalizing scent of blood. Viral left the corpse in favor of new prey.

Though Viral was behaving like a wild beast that didn't mean he was no longer capable of reasoning. He didn't waste ammunition as he tore through the ranks, using his claws and the rifle butt. He knew that he wasn't fast enough to kill all of them and that some were bound to reach their ganmen. If that happened, Rook and King wouldn't be able to handle the much larger ganmen alone, and the gun packed enough punch to be of use.

In fact, he could already hear the sounds of metal pounding metal behind him, as well as to his right. _Damn_! One of them was headed toward the cliff.

Not even bothering to finish slicing the jugular of his current victim, he tossed the soon to be deceased man to the side and ran as fast as he could, once more ignoring the bullets, even the ones that cut through his legs, though they did make him stumble briefly.

The burning of his lungs, the blood pounding in his ears, the feeling of his legs burning as he tried to push his body past its limit. At one time he lived for these sensations, enjoyed them, because he knew no matter how much the humans resisted, he would be victorious. Now the sensations only served to aggravate him as they hindered him from getting to Kimi. He followed the ganman's footprints, barely seeing where he was going and only sidestepping when a tree came into his path. Everything else –branches, falling rocks, woodland creatures- were ignored and barreled into so long as it didn't slow him down.

The instant he could see both ganmen he didn't hesitate. He whipped the rifle up and took a shot, not bothering to aim. The pilot was clearly unprepared and the ganman teetered back. Viral took a second, more focused shot and the ganman fell back, taking its pilot along for the ride to a watery grave.

Only after the threat was gone did Viral take an eighth of a moment to survey the damage. It looked as though Enki had taken a single blow, the majority of which had been absorbed by the left arm and the rest by the left leg. Not good. Could it still walk? And was Kimi alright?

Enki managed to turn itself to face him and open its mouth. Kimi looked no worse for the wear. If anything, she seemed confident as well as relieved.

"Where are the others?"

Viral ran up to the ganman and quickly climbed onto its right shoulder. Thanks to all of the rust and pitted metal it was easy for him to find a grip. "I got them out of the ropes but had to leave them," he panted as he passed her.

"We're going back!"

If Viral wasn't trying so hard not to pass out from overexertion he might have objected, but since he was panting so hard that he was in danger of swallowing his own tongue he said nothing as Enki stumbled gracelessly down the mountainside. It was foolish, going back when all they had to defend themselves was a rifle, but Viral recognized the determination in her voice. Despite his breathing troubles he managed to smile, both in aggravation and pride. She almost sounded like that bastard hero.

By the time Enki blundered its way to the battlefield Viral knew the situation was hopeless. King and Rook were outnumbered five to one, and the battered Enki wasn't going to be any help.

Kaoru, who was standing on top of King, looked back at them. "WHAT ARE YOU TWO RETURNING FOR? DON'T YOU HAVE A WORLD TO CHANGE? WE SHALL HOLD THEM OFF AS YOU MAKE YOUR STRATEGIC RETREAT!"

"What are you talking about? We can't just leave you!" Kimi shouted back. Viral could hear the resignation in her tone. They both knew how this would end.

"NONSENSE! OUR HEROIC SACRIFICES WOULD BE RATHER UN-HEROIC IF YOU WERE TO REMAIN HERE WITH US!" He raised a finger toward the sun, high in the sky, oblivious to the bloodbath that was occurring just below it. "REACH FOR THE SKY AND NEVER LOSE HOPE! THAT IS THE WAY OF THE CHECKERBOARD BRIGADE! NOW GO AND ACCOMPLISH YOUR DREAMS!"

Viral could hear Kimi groan as though in physical pain. But in the end, she did as both Kaoru and Viral wanted and turned the ganman around, fleeing as fast as its injured limb would allow.

"Stop! You are under arrest!" called one of the Grapearl officers.

Rook and King moved to block the path of the Grapearl ganmen. "YOU SHALL NOT HALT THE WINDS OF CHANGE AS THEY BLOW THROUGH YOUR STAGNANT CITIES! THE BEAUTY OF HOPE FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE CAN NEVER BE MARRED BY YOUR POLITICAL FOULNESS! SCREW YOUR COURAGE TO THE STICKING PLACE MEN! TODAY IS THE DAY WE PRESERVE THE DREAMS OF TOMORROW! _**CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!**_"

Viral remained on Enki's shoulders as he watched the battlefield grow smaller until he could no longer see any of the ganmen. Then he continued to watch the spot he and Kimi had escaped from until something in the distance changed. He was grateful that Kimi couldn't see it from her vantage point inside of Enki's cockpit, hear it over the sounds of clanging metal, or even feel the shockwaves as they almost imperceptibly traveled up from the ground into the already shuddering ganman and into Viral's hyper-aware body. When the light and sound of the explosion finally faded into nothingness, Viral stood and lifted his hand in a salute.

"Thank you, Checkerboard Brigade."

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><p>AN

Guys, I'm... I'm so sorry, to everyone who liked the Checkerboard Brigade. I wrote this chapter just going with the flow and it ended on such a crappy note. I tried to alter it slightly but there was no way the plot was going to continue forward otherwise.

I'm upset too. I really liked those characters. I liked them better than I like Kimi, and she's supposed to be the co-protagonist. I should have practiced with cannon characters more before I decided to write a fic with an OC.

Oh, well. The story must continue. See you next update.


	18. Awkward

I sincerely apologize for this chapter as well. There is no excuse for this atrocity

I Kimi, the Deceased Brigade, and any other people not Gurren Lagann, because I don't own Gurren Lagann. You can stop panicking now.

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><p>"HACHOOOO!"<p>

"Would you quit sneezing?"

"Do you think I enjoy having a cold, you heartless bastard?"

"Do not sit there and act like it's my fault." It really wasn't Viral's fault that Kimi was catching a cold. She was the one who had sat in her wet clothes until they were forced to stop to make more repairs to Enki. It wasn't his fault that it happened to be night when she needed to exit the warm cockpit to work in the cold air, since at night the desert cooled considerably. She could have taken off her wet skirt and underthings and worn her shirt while she was inside of Enki. She could have let her wet clothes dry. Obviously falling ill was her own fault for not wanting to stop long enough to change. Well, perhaps her reluctance to change had something to do with modesty, but still, it was not Viral's fault. Not only was grateful that it wasn't his fault, but also that he wasn't sneezing as well.

"HATCHO-"

Still, despite the fact that it wasn't his fault he still had to deal with the consequences.

Viral tossed the still neglected red shirt at her face, managing to slightly muffle the sneeze. He was currently sitting in the pilot's chair while Kimi was lying on the floor.

"Be quiet, at least. I'm trying to keep an eye on the gauges and you're distracting me!"

Kimi glared at him, but her effort was wasted as Viral refused to so much as spare her a glance.

"Then why don't you let me pilot and you can go back to brooding on Enki's shoulder," she snapped indignantly.

Viral still refused to look at her. "You're getting sick and you need to sleep now."

As touched as Kimi was, she was feeling ill and frustrated. Yet Viral had a feeling her irritation was more over the untimely death of her friends than from a fever he was worried she was coming down with.

After yet another hearty sneeze, Kimi responded. "And what happens when Enki needs repairs in a few hours? We can only get it to operate for short bursts at a time and you need my help to rig the gears back up."

It was true that after exactly 10,924 rotations of the gears in Enki's left leg three of them would come loose and fall out of place, effectively locking the leg in place. How Kimi had so quickly arrived at that number during the initial repair was beyond Viral, but after four repairs she had proven herself correct.

"I know how to do it. This is my ganman, after all. You can do what you like when we get back to your own ganman."

After several hours of debating they had decided to go back for Enkinex. Kimi had said that a few of the leftover parts from her repairs on Enki would suffice to get her ganman up and running again, and she had quickly loaded said parts into Enki's storage container moments before the officer had arrived at the cliff. It had been an impulsive decision based on the fact that she was worried that if they fled Enki might fall apart again. She hadn't even considered her own ganman at the time. In fact, Viral was the one who had suggested they retrieve it.

Now that the Grapearls had failed yet again, it was likely that the security around the government building in Kamina City would be even tighter. They both figured that at this point a frontal attack would work better than trying to sneak inside. If the two of them caused a big enough commotion Simon was likely to hear about it and confront them himself. That would be their opportunity to explain what was Rossiu was doing.

"I don't want to sleep."

A vein throbbed in Viral's forehead. "Why are you acting like a spoiled brat? Quit being difficult!"

"Make me!"

Okay, this was getting really irritating. Viral was about to put the controls down and give her a piece of his mind (just a small piece in the hopes of making her faint in horror) when she spoke again.

Her voice was so quiet he barely heard it over the din of his ganman's complaining machinery. "If I go to sleep, and then wake up, I have to admit that this wasn't a dream."

This time Viral did look back at her. She was sitting now, with her legs tucked into her chest. It didn't appear as though she was about to start crying, but her eyes looked so empty it irritated him just the same. He wanted to snarl at her for being so softhearted. She had claimed to be a war pilot, so how could she let something like this bother her? It made his stomach churn, though he was thoroughly convinced that that particular phenomena kept occurring because he was hungry.

Just as he was about to call her a pathetic excuse for a sack of flesh the look vanished and was replaced by a sheepish one as she turned to face him.

"Um, I'm sorry."

Viral blinked. Then he blinked again. Had that just come out of her mouth? "What for?" he asked.

"I've been pretty surly since it happened two days ago. You don't really need to deal with my attitude right now. You shouldn't have to deal with any of this…" The empty look returned, along with the churning. He debated whether or not he should dip into their limited food supply.

"Any of what?"

She snorted sarcastically and rested her chin on her knees. "This farce of an adventure. I thought that with your help we could easily expose Rossiu, but all I've done is cause trouble. I'm not giving up, but I won't blame you if you leave."

"I'm not-"

He practically jumped out of his seat when a metallic shriek assaulted his eardrums. The ganman shuddered as the noise grew louder. He clapped his hands over his ears as the noise pierced his skull and threatened to tear his head in two. He wished it would just hurry up and kill him so that the excruciating pain would stop.

It suddenly fell silent once more, though the only reason Viral could tell was because Kimi was gently trying to get his attention by pulling his hands off of his ears. His ears were shot for the moment; the only thing he heard was a loud ringing. His skull was still pounding, though not quite so badly that he didn't have the presence of mind to snatch his hands away from the woman and hide them by crossing his arms.

"I can't hear you," he snapped as he watched her lips open and close soundlessly. He had never bothered to learn how to read lips since his hearing was so sensitive, but now he considered the usefulness of the skill.

Kimi looked worried. He wasn't sure if it was concern for him or for Enki. "We should get out and see what happened," he said a little louder than necessary, but he had to be cut some slack since he couldn't tell.

Kimi frowned at him for another moment before taking the lead and opening Enki's mouth. Thanks to her constant work on ganmen it was easy for her to hop to the ground without hurting herself. Viral, on the other hand, was suffering from inner ear problems and fell almost immediately, landing with a dull thud on a dune.

"Viral? Geeze, it's about time. Don't worry me like that. I was beginning to think you actually died."

Viral groaned a second time and opened his eyes. Why was Kimi looking so relieved? And why was she upside down? Oh, right, he was lying in a pile of sand after having fallen. So why did the ground underneath his head feel so firm?

He sat up and turned around. His head had been on her lap.

"Viral, are you alright?" She started snickering. "Or are you just embarrassed about losing your balance?" She continued to laugh into her hands.

"It. Is. Not. Funny!" he snapped as he felt the now too familiar heat flood his face. He shouldn't be embarrassed about having his eardrums destroyed! And it most certainly had nothing to do with where his head had been moments prior. Nothing at all.

The laughter died instantly, and he was almost sorry for it. Almost. Because dealing with a happy Kimi was easier than dealing with a concerned one. That was why. It was easier. Seriously.

"I'm sorry. Are you alright? I didn't realize that the noise had affected you so badly."

She stood and moved toward him, but he scrambled away, muttering, "I'm fine. Let's just find out what's wrong with Enki."

Kimi just sighed and walked with him to the ganman. It was in such sorry shape that she almost wanted to cry, but she kept calm and said, "Another one of the gears fell out and lodged between two of the loose ones."

Viral sweat dropped. "How could you possibly know that? We haven't even started looking."

She leveled him a look that clearly said 'I would pity you if I didn't think it would mean having my head detached from my shoulders.' "You know you've been out for about an hour, right? I've already made the repairs."

Viral's sweat drop increased in size. She had fixed the thing by herself in one hour when she couldn't even get the body down to ground level? Also, what about him?

"You just left me lying in the sand?" he said, his anger bubbling to the surface.

"You know, I took your words at face value when you told me you were immortal. I just assumed that the metal grinding against metal had messed with your ears and that you would wake up once your body fixed itself."

Alright, he was really getting sick of the mood swings. "Alright, now that you've fixed it, let's get going. I'll drive again, and you sleep," his tone clearly told her that it was not a friendly suggestion.

However, instead of cooperating, she decided to mess with him.

"Okay, but first you owe me a favor!" she said sweetly, an almost creepy smile plastered across her face.

Viral was taken off guard, just like she hoped. "A favor?" he questioned, backing away from her slowly. The smile's creepiness increased exponentially the longer it was on her face. It wasn't that he was scared, he was just vaguely disturbed. Or extremely disturbed. Not that he would ever admit that.

"Yep, you owe me a favor since I had to do all of that hard work by myself." She was all sugary goodness now, and if Viral had been a more cowardly beastman he would have run away as fast as he could. As his pride wouldn't allow for that, he simply continued to back away as Kimi advanced. These mood swings were getting ridiculous.

"Are you PMSing?"

The fires of Hell danced in her eyes, but the grin only continued to widen.

Clearly not the best choice of words. Viral could genuinely say he had never been so terrified for his life. It was rather ironic considering he couldn't be killed.

"No, Viral, I'm not," the strain to keep her voice friendly was evident. "There was no need to accuse me of that when I'm only asking for one little, tiny, insignificant favor."

Had Viral not been so unsettled he would have argued that he was doing her a favor when he had agreed to travel with her in the first place, but fear and logic rarely cohabitate inside of a mind. They don't get along very well, and unfortunately Viral was currently suffering for it.

"What do you want?" he asked suspiciously.

Kimi seemed to calm down once she realized he was cooperating. Whether the cooperation was a show of generosity or a nervous reflex was irrelevant to her. "I want to see your hand."

Viral blinked. Then he blinked again. He was doing that a lot on this particular day. "What?"

"I want to see your hand."

"Why?" Viral was so confused that he couldn't even think of another question.

He got some of his edge back when she hesitated before answering. "The reason isn't important," she said nervously, breaking eye contact. "Will you please let me see one of your hands?"

Asking politely? It was highly suspicious, so Viral held up his left hand with the back facing her. "There, you've seen it. Now can we get moving before the sun rises?" He tried to step around her, but she just moved in front of him again.

"That's not what I'm asking and you know it!"

They stared at each other for a few moments, trying to get the other to back down. Viral almost wanted to laugh. She was more of a spoilt brat now than she had been when she was younger. Also, physical contact was neither something he was used to nor something he sought. He was a proud creature, and he didn't need assurance of any kind, especially not in the form of a gentle touch. And yet, in the wake of their crazy 'farce of an adventure' and the recent tragedy, he didn't really feel completely opposed to indulging her.

Besides, he was curious as to what she would do and what her request was all about. This would be the easiest way to sate his curiosity.

"Fine," he mumbled, looking away when she smiled brightly.

He watched his hand as he held it out. It took a lot of control not to jump when she took a hold of it in her two smaller hands. She moved her face closer to get a better look, and when she moved the moonlight glinted off of his claws, claws that had killed a dozen men two days prior.

She gasped as the claws disappeared into his fingertips. His claws were retractable! She'd had no idea, and was fascinated by this new piece of information.

That wasn't the only thing that was fascinating her, though. She had expected the fur covering his hands to be thick and slightly coarse. It was thick, but it was also silky, never mind the fact that he had spent a good portion of time yesterday washing the blood out of it. It was even softer than her hair. Not that she was vain, but she had thought up until that point that she had very nice hair.

But comparing her hair to his fur wasn't the main focus, though it did give her something else to consider. She ran her fingers along the top of his hand tentatively, afraid that he would snap at her for petting him like a wolverinekitten. When he remained silent she ran her fingers through the fur, starting at his fingers and working toward his wrist.

Her intentions had been to try and learn a little more about the 'curse of the beastmen' as Aria had put it. Her natural curiosity was what had made her a mechanic. Now it had only served to put her in an awkward, almost intimate, position. An awkwardly intimate position. _Crap._

Unfortunately, it was too late to let her misgivings stop her. Something inside of her told her that this would be her only chance to satisfy her curiosity, so she wasn't going to waste it.

She flipped his hand over carefully to look at his palm. The palm as well as the area of the fingers that alternated with the joints looked almost like the pads of a mammal. They were a few shades darker than his fur and were raised slightly. She touched her thumb to the center of his palm and rubbed it in circles. She felt a breath on the back of her head, and wasn't sure if it was a normal breath or a sigh.

She forced her focus away from what was going on above her head and back to what she was holding in her hands. The pads were rough and calloused. She knew it was from spending so much time piloting Enki. She had seen similar calluses on other pilot's hands, but not the same on her own due to the fact that she spent more time repairing than piloting.

She ran her fingers along to pads of his digits, almost laughing when the fur on the underside of his joints tickled the tips of her fingers. It came as a bit of a shock when his fingers closed around her own.

She looked up, but he kept his eyes on her hands as he returned them to her sides. He looked rather calm and distant. "That's enough," he said quietly as he headed back to Enki.

Kimi nodded. She knew that something was wrong. There had been an invisible boundary that they had both mutually acknowledged. She had crossed it, though what would happen next was a mystery to her. She had thought that she wanted to break down that boundary so that they could really be friends, but she had a strong feeling that she had pushed it too far. She couldn't take it back. All she could do was keep her head high and continue to look forward.

While Kimi _contemplated_ the situation, Viral more or less let it _run rampant_ in his head. That had been bad. Very bad. So bad that he couldn't use any other word to describe it other than 'bad.' Bad, bad, bad. That had been way too intimate for someone who was only used to using his hands to strangle an opponent. He was freaking out so badly that it was almost pitiable. Almost, because if Viral knew that someone was pitying him he would use a cheese grater to remove the flesh from that someone's bones while they were still alive.

It was just that… It had felt _nice_. It felt nice to be touched so gently, and with such soft hands. They were so small he could have easily crushed them when he had held them in his own.

He scowled. He was being weak. It was too obvious for him to deny that he had a hang-up when it came to touching other beings. But was it because he was afraid of being weak, or because he was afraid he would be too strong for the other person to handle?

Bah! Too many unnecessary thoughts. Viral shrugged it off, and by shrugging it off he meant that he beat the thoughts senseless using an oversized blender and then mercilessly shoved them into the back of his mind in a file cabinet labeled 'useless thoughts.' They were beginning to get packed in there like sardinerabbits, and seemed to be multiplying just as quickly. Someday he was going to have to sort through them. But not today. Today he was going to worry about getting Kimi back to her ganman. He could sort through his thoughts when they were no longer in danger of being captured by the Grapearl Squad.


	19. Contra-Band

In honor of my one-year anniversary of being on FF, have another crappy chapter :D

In all honesty, I think this one is better than the last, but I still don't know what I'm doing anymore. My motivation has swiftly declined. I had intended for the story to wrap up soon anyway, but I can't promise anything concerning quality at the moment. Maybe once the semester ends I'll have more time to write good chapters.

I own Kimi but not Gurren Lagann. I miss Kamina ;_;

* * *

><p>Viral gave the wrench one final twist before setting it down for the night. He lifted his arms over his head for a good back stretch when he heard a loud squeal. Had it not followed a very long and loud speech about how Kimi was so close to finishing the repairs on her own ganman, he would have been worried for her safety. But as it stood she was simply making an incredibly obnoxious sound of joy from the cockpit of Enkinex.<p>

"I finally finished. All I had to do was connect the vortexialchronosynthesizer with the twistensprialificator (A/N don't ask) and-"

"Yes, yes, I get it, you're excited," Viral snapped. "Now you'd better calm down and get some shuteye. We're leaving first thing in the morning."

Kimi pouted and put her hands on her hips. He had been so temperamental the past week. He was probably still upset about that night…

Upset was a bit of an understatement. He had been berating himself all week for what had happened. He told himself it didn't matter and that he wouldn't miss her once they completed their mission and went their separate ways. If only he could take back what had happened.

"Fine, Commander Grumpy, I just want to do a quick test run first."

As much as he knew it was a good idea to either say no or just let her use her ganman for the first time in months, logic abandoned him to the clutches of curiosity. Logic, what a bitch.

"How do you pilot something like that anyway?" Again, the desire to tear his tongue out made itself known.

Kimi smiled brightly. Viral could almost see the excitement rolling off of her in waves.

And then Viral had a rather disturbing thought. Maybe _he_ was a masochist.

"Well the levers- you know, why don't I just show you?" She offered chirpily.

Viral looked away and considered refusing. He had a strong sense that this was only going to make things more awkward. Logic dictated that in order to preserve his peace of mind he should tell her to forget it, get in his own ganman, and wait for the sun to rise before heading to the new capitol. Curiosity and, despite his best efforts to subdue it with barbed wire and a taser, reluctance to leave her dictated that he take her offer. Maybe curiosity was the bitch.

"Sure. Why not?" That bastard had possessed his tongue from beyond the grave, he just knew it!

Now trapped, Viral made his way into the cockpit of the spider-like ganman. It was considerably cleaner, and the pilot's seat was firmly attached to the floor once more. The buttons were lit with various colors, and a fifth lever had been added to the already complex-looking controls.

Kimi gestured at the pilot's seat. "Sit down," she offered, and while he was still hesitant about being there in the first place he complied. Kimi moved to stand next to him while she started her explanation.

"Like most ganmen, the handles make Enkinex move, and most of the buttons fire weapons. It's these levers," she said, tapping the one closest to her, "that make this ganman special." More like obscenely complicated. "All six of Enkinex's legs can rotate around this central sphere, transforming its shape and abilities. Depending on how you pull, push, twist, and hit a sequence of buttons, Enkinex can do a lot of different tricks."

Viral looked at the array of gadgets in slight dismay, though he would never let her know it. "How did you discover all of these sequences?" he asked.

"Oh, I don't think I _have_ discovered them all. I've learned a few through trial and error. Care to take it for a spin yourself?"

Viral's eyes widened as he removed his gaze from the candy-colored buttons to stare at her. This ganman was her pride and joy, and she was giving him the opportunity to pilot it when he didn't have a clue as to how it worked? He didn't appreciate the kind gesture, as his instincts were screaming _it's a trap!_, but it was a unique opportunity, so he was willing to take the risk.

"Alright," he muttered, taking up the handles as Kimi quickly inserted the drill into the energy display. It took a moment for the previously abused ganman to power up.

Viral experimentally squeezed the handles, and the ganman began to walk on its spidery legs. So far so good. Perhaps he should try getting it airborne.

Kimi seemed to predict his thoughts. "Don't go flying off just yet. Even without a levisphere, this ganman can do plenty."

"But how can it do anything in such a small area?" They were still in the canyon outside of West City after all, and his Enki was taking up space as well.

"We can get out. Head over to that wall, then twist and pull the third lever on your left. Keep moving forward using your right handle, but keep your left hand on the lever until I tell you to press the button on top, got it?" she explained without trying to sound too bossy. She really wanted Viral to approve and acknowledge her hard work, and he couldn't do that if he got upset with her tone and left Enkinex in favor of his own ganman.

"Got it," he replied, though he had no idea how the ganman was going to scale the wall. Surprisingly enough, when he did as he had been told the leg sections locked together and rotated around the cockpit, allowing the fine points of Enkinex's legs to hook into the canyon walls and climb the 90 degree angle.

"Once we get to the top, just do the sequence in reverse."

It took Viral a moment to recall the order, but once he did the ganman made a smooth transition from upright to horizontal, and not once did it lose its footing.

"Ready to fly?" Kimi asked.

Viral cringed inwardly. If it took that much effort just to climb a wall he wasn't sure he could remember all of the commands for flying. More likely than not, they would end up crashing. But his pride had a strong sense of self preservation, and his sense of self-preservation no longer had any pride. "Sure," he responded at length, his fingers twisting around the handles uncomfortably.

"Okay, first hit this button," she indicated a large blue button in the center of the console. "Then pull the levers on your right to the left, and the levers on your left to the right."

Viral tapped the button and the ganman began to slowly rise from the ground. As he pulled the levers the legs folded underneath, turning Enkinex into a flying disc. As he applied pressure to the handles it began to move forward. He tried to turn left in order to circle the canyon, but for some reason the controls didn't respond and they continued flying straight into the starlit desert.

"You have to pull this lever unless you're really fired up and making a sharp turn. For a leisurely pace like this, it's a little more difficult to control, since you're relying more on the machinery than fighting spirit."

"Seriously? The controls change based upon the situation?" Viral couldn't believe it.

She nodded. "Yup, the more fighting spirit or spiral power, the less button mashing. You want to try something a little more complicated?"

Viral, despite his better judgment, which was feeling highly neglected nowadays, he rose to the teasing challenge in her voice.

"Of course I'm up for something more complicated. This has been less than child's play."

The line of Kimi's lips thinned. So he thought that piloting her ganman was a piece of cake? She'd show him how complex Enkinex could be! No one insulted her work, especially not him! So, she quickly launched into a tirade of instructions as Viral scrambled to carry out the instructions and listen for the next step at the same time.

"Now pull this lever and this lever back, then push these two forward, then push this one to the left and that one to the right, then this one to the left and this one to the right as well, then hit this red button and then the red button next to it-" the instructions kept coming and Viral couldn't keep up. The legs kept flailing and at one point Viral missed a step entirely, causing the ganman to cartwheel toward the ground at an alarming rate.

"What the hell!"

"Move over!"

Kimi didn't wait for him to listen and simply hopped onto his lap, quickly hitting buttons and twisting levers until Enkinex pulled out of the dive and was smoothly soaring through the air.

"If you didn't know what to do you should have asked!" Kimi snapped over her shoulder, not bothering to remove herself from Viral's lap despite the fact they were out of immediate danger. "You almost destroyed my life's work!"

Viral bristled. "You were giving instructions at a mile a minute. And why are you so worried about this piece of junk anyway?" Didn't she value her life at all?

They spent a moment or two glaring at each other, grinding their teeth. Nether wanted to admit they were in the wrong, and they were upset at the other's reaction. They got over it pretty damn quickly when they both realized Kimi was sitting in Viral's lap.

Viral's fur bristled. What was she doing, sitting on him and staring like that? If she didn't do or say something fast Viral would probably do something very stupid, and whether that something stupid would be kissing her or throwing her against the wall and bolting he couldn't be entirely sure.

Kimi, for her part, was actually fairly calm. Viral looked as though he was about to have a fit, and somehow that made her feel better. He didn't dislike her; the fact that he hadn't shoved her off of his lap proved that much.

_Don't do it!_ He shrieked mentally, subtly pressing back into the pilot's seat, yet still not trying to stand or push her away. The worst part was that he didn't know who he was shrieking at, or why he was suddenly so terrified. It was only a kiss, right?

But kisses were the gateway drug of romance, weren't they? Would she be expecting more? What kind of 'more' would she be expecting? And what would happen later as she aged? Would they-

The line of questioning came to a screeching halt, which under normal circumstances would have been a relief, but seeing as how he was in the middle of a crisis he had no way of interpreting the rush of terror that had him frozen like a derpdeer in headlights. Her eyes were still partially open, but she was getting frighteningly close, and he wasn't even breathing anymore. Just another few centimeters and-

Kimi toppled to the ground, but it wasn't through any action of Viral's. If it had been his doing he would have made sure not to topple down after her and land his face between her breasts and his torso between her thighs. They didn't waste any time or emotion on the severely awkward situation as Kimi scrambled to get out from underneath him and into the pilot's seat, steering the ganman back toward the canyon.

Viral was both relieved and frustrated when he saw the 12 Grapearl ganmen on the rearview display.

"Damn."

"You are under arrest! If you resist, we will not hesitate to fire!" came a voice over a loudspeaker.

"Why the warning now? They already started shooting!" Kimi snarled just as the second volley of cannons were fired. She made a sharp turn, flipping the legs around so that it appeared as though they were flying on their side and managing to avoid all of the shots.

"Get me back to Enki!"

"I know!"

She pressed several buttons, rotating the legs once more so that they presented a bigger target. Instead of waiting for the officers to fire a second round, Kimi unloaded some of her own ammunition before making Enkinex a small target again and speeding back to the canyon. Only two ganmen were hit, but both of them ceased their pursuit immediately.

"Don't bother stopping; I'll just jump."

Kimi nodded without making a sound. She was a little more focused their pursuers than Viral's orders.

The fugitives kept checking the rearview and frontview displays of the panels. Kimi was doing well thus far, avoiding all of the shots easily while making good progress toward Enki. Viral smiled. Between the two of them, the rest of the officers would be cannon fodder.

His smile vanished. Things seemed to slow down as he knew what was about to happen, but at the same time was powerless to stop it. It was the famous Gurren coming up on their right side, and he had a strong sense that Rossiu was abiding by the old saying 'if you want something done right, do it yourself.'

Viral only had time to shout "Kimi!" before his vision was engulfed by white.


	20. MarySue Me

You know how I've been hinting that Kimi and Viral have background. Well, for all you patient people who stuck with the story, here's the first part of it.

Actually, this wasn't my original plan but several chapters ago I settled on this because 1) I wanted to explore what things are like for a beastman shortly after creation, as well as Viral's philosophy in general 2) it was easier to write it this way and 3) almost nobody gives this story reviews and tells me otherwise, so I'm going to assume I can do whatever the heck I want and people won't get upset.

I own Kimi and her royal sassyface but not anything Gurren Lagann. I bet Nia was an adorascary baby.

* * *

><p>He?… He coughed… There was… liquid? The flavor…foul… chemicals… He tried to get air… Into his lungs? He needed… needed? the air. He opened his eyes and… saw? He saw a room, filled with shadows and dim green lights… He saw the movement of figures… He could move too?... He shivered, cold, naked… There were voices, strange murmurs… It all seemed so foreign, he had never heard before, yet he could understand…<p>

"How strange." "Already on his knees." "Knows enough to be scared, he'll live a while longer than most, perhaps." "Looks peculiar, wasn't expecting the results of the cross sequencing." "One of a kind."

The figures came into focus more as his eyes adjusted to the dark. He turned his head to look at more, more of this new place which he had never been… cognitively aware of before now. Something caught his eye. It was bright and… red. He liked that, and so he stared, until a figure approached him.

He looked up. A…man towered over him, his eyes obviously white even in the green light. He spoke, his voice booming, harsh… The others fell silent.

"You should feel honored. It isn't every day I witness the awakening of my creations. I am your king and master, Lordgenome!"

Putting lips together, exhaling, using a voice, making words, so difficult…

"Master?" he croaked. His first word, a word in inferiority.

The Lordgenome smiled. "Yes, your master. You catch on rather quickly, don't you? You're different from most, so I'll give you a second honor; I'll name you myself.

This was greeted with murmurs. Jealousy?...

"From this moment forward, you shall be known as Viral."

"… Viral?" Viral. His name was Viral. He liked having a name. He didn't know why, but it felt good to have a thing to call himself… An identity… an honor? By his master.

"Get him cleaned up and show him to his room." His master was looking at someone else. "He'll start training early."

"Training?"

Lordgenome looked at him condescendingly. "You will address me as 'your highness' from now on. And yes, training, to kill humans who dare to live on the surface. That is your reason for living; to kill humans." He turned away, his white outfit flapping in Viral's face.

Kill… Humans… His purpose?...

What was a human?...

* * *

><p>"Not bad," Viral's Commander, and old Lion-beastman commented as Viral exited a one-headed Enki amidst a field of human corpses.<p>

"Thank you, sir" Viral saluted.

The old beastman chuckled. "At ease, soldier. Only two years of experience and you're already at this level. It took me five years before my Commander chose me as his successor."

Viral blinked. "Sir?" he questioned.

The old Lion led Viral by the shoulder to the edge of the field, toward his own two-headed ganman. "I'm getting up there in years, Viral. Soon I'll be as dead as these wretches," he kicked a woman's corpse to add emphasis to his point. Viral winced. "My life is almost over, and I need to pick a successor. You aren't quite where I want you to be in terms of experience, but you have plenty of potential, and I think the extra responsibility will be good for you." The Lion smiled. "I want you to take the helmet off of my ganman and affix it to your own when we return to Teppelin. I would help you do it myself, but the Spiral King wants to see me immediately."

"Sir, I- I'm honored by your faith in me!" Viral straightened his back. "I will prove that your trust is not misplaced!"

"Good boy. Now let's get out of here, I can't stand the stench of humans."

As they walked back, the almost retired Commander carelessly trod over the lifeless bodies of the most recent skirmish while Viral carefully crept around them.

"Commander," he asked, "What happens when we die?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? But, sir, that doesn't make sense."

The Commander paused, right on top of a man's carcass. "Let me explain. You fall into oblivion. You see, smell, taste, touch, hear, feel, and think nothing. Some humans believe that the soul goes to an eternal paradise called 'heaven,' or to a place of torture called 'hell,' but I don't believe such nonsense. They just tell themselves that to comfort themselves, make themselves feel like their good deeds will be rewarded and the bad guys will be punished."

Go to oblivion, back where he came from? Viral looked down at the corpses. No wonder they fought so desperately for their dreams…

* * *

><p>Viral was on his way to report another successful suppression of the human scum when something bumped into his legs. He looked down to see a small human in a white sundress with hideous pink and orange polka dots. A girl, he noted, with the scent of watermelonpuma floating about her, short dark hair, and big blue eyes.<p>

At first, they just stared at each other. Viral had no idea what to think. What the hell was a human child doing in Teppelin?

"Get away from her!"

Viral looked up to see a woman with long black hair and blue eyes, much like the child's, storm down the hallway toward him. The little girl moved backward away from him instead of the other way around, and the woman snatched her up.

"Damn beasts," she hissed as she left a still stunned Viral looking at the small child who was still staring at him over the woman's shoulder.

Why were there humans in Teppelin? It didn't take him long to find out.

"That's the Spiral King's daughter!" he practically shouted at the cafeteria table.

"Keep your voice down!" squawked the Bird-beastman sitting across the table from him. "You're only four years old, so I'll clue you in. Every now and again our King gets bored, so he makes himself a daughter to keep him occupied until he gets bored of her or she starts asking too many questions. Granted, Kimi is a little different. The Spiral King wanted to see how a regular child and an artificial daughter would interact. So, you see, she was _born_," the beastman finished in a tone that was meant to convey awe.

It was lost on Viral. "What do you mean she was _born_? Isn't everyone born?"

The Bird slapped his forehead. "It's different! You and I, all of the beastmen, and most of the Spiral Kings daughters, are created. Giving birth, being born, that's something only humans and animals can experience. That's why there are small humans and big humans. Babies are born, grow up, and have babies of their own."

"I know that! I don't need a lesson in human reproduction! I just don't understand why being created is so different from being born."

"It just is. Now be quiet and eat your meal. Forget Kimi and her bitch of a mother and focus on your job."

They all came from the same place, and when they died they all went back to the same place. What was a beastman, as opposed to a human?...

* * *

><p>"My name is Kimi! What's yours?" She hadn't run into him this time, and there was no sign of her mother, but she was still wearing that awful dress.<p>

"My name is Viral, Princess," he addressed her formally, as was expected of him.

"Where are you going?" Kimi asked.

"To see your father. Should you be wandering the halls by yourself?"

She puffed up indignantly. "I'm not doing anything wrong!" She was quick to calm down, however. "Why are you going to see my father?"

"To tell him that I succeeded in eradicating the hu-" This was a little human girl. He couldn't tell her what his purpose in life was. "…The huge obstacle that was making your father upset."

"So it's your job to make my father happy?"

Viral fidgeted. "I suppose you could say that."

She smiled. "My father has been really happy lately, so you must be doing a good job!"

Yes, he had been doing a _good_ job.

"Kimi! Where are you?"

"Uh oh!" Kimi looked panicked as her mother's voice echoed down the hall. "You didn't see me!" she pleaded with Viral before running down an adjacent hallway. Her mother appeared around a corner moments later.

"Has my daughter been through here, beastman?" she snapped when she saw him.

"No, ma'am." He didn't know why he wasn't betraying the young girl's trust. Then again, it felt more like giving the rude woman a hard time than doing her daughter a favor.

But perhaps it was because he couldn't understand why she trusted him in the first place…

* * *

><p>"Hi, Viral!"<p>

"Hello, Princess Kimi. And…" Viral paused, not sure what to say about the thing Kimi was holding. It looked like an even smaller girl with blonde and blue hair in a pink onesie, but the green eyes weren't blinking, so for all he knew it could be a doll.

Kimi smiled brightly. "This is my little sister, Nia. Say hi, Nia!"

The creepy eyes finally blinked and the child, whom Viral could now identify as Princess Nia, Lordgenome's other daughter, made some noise that could pass as a greeting.

"Father's busy and so is mom, which means I'm looking after her for today."

Nia smiled and giggled, which made Kimi smile even wider. "Isn't she cute?"

Viral had to force his lip not to curl in disgust. "Adorable. If you'll excuse me, I need to leave on a mission."

He had been ordered by the Spiral King to eradicate a village that was still underground, but had recently produced a rather annoying group of pests. The desert would be stained with blood before the sun set tonight, the blood of people old and young, humans not unlike the little girl fussing over her baby sister. The young Nia was another of Lordgenome's creations, not like him, but not the same as her sister either. She was something else entirely, worlds apart from either. Yet Kimi didn't make the distinction between herself and the toddler despite having different mothers. She didn't make the distinction between herself and Viral either.

Viral walked away, leaving the two girls to entertain themselves. Nia was born of a different being, actually several different beings, yet the two girls acted as though they were as close as full sisters. Were they really so different from one another?...


	21. MarySue HARDER

...Because I don't think I MarySued hard enough the first time

Classes start up again in less than a week and I have assignments that need to be done beforehand. I've been updating pretty quickly (for me) but that's going to slow down soon. Not just because of classes, but this story is also coming to an end and I don't yet have an idea for my next one. Regardless, I hope everyone has a Happy 2013.

I do not own Gurren Lagann. I do, however, own Kimi, yet another nameless character, and what may be the world's softest and warmest blanket.

* * *

><p>Viral was flat on his back on a platform beneath Enki. He was performing basic routine maintenance before his next mission when something not so routine happened. He was reaching for a wrench that was out of his sight and he knew was out of his reach, but he was stubbornly reaching for it none the less. Yet suddenly it was placed into his palm. He looked over to see the older Princess smiling at him, her clothes and parts of her skin covered in grease. She had probably been wandering around the ganman hangar for some time.<p>

"Princess Kimi, what are you doing here?"

"You don't have to call me Princess, Viral. I come here all of the time. I enjoy looking at the ganmen. Is this one yours?"

Viral frowned. "Yes, this ganman is mine. It's called Enki. You know what a ganman is?" He couldn't believe it.

"Yeah. It's what you and all of the other beastmen use to stop the bad guys, right?"

Right, not right. How was he supposed to know? If the humans were scum that the Spiral King wanted to eradicate, why did he have a human lover and human daughter? Yet he also had his whores and an artificial daughter. It was easier to ignore the implications, and just listen to his master's orders.

"You shouldn't be here, you know. It's dangerous with all of the heavy equipment. How did you get on the platform anyway?" It was an electronic lift, with no ladder.

"I climbed on Enki. You looked like you were having trouble, so I wanted to help."

Viral sighed and pressed a few buttons on the lift's control panel, lowering it to the hangar floor. How had she even managed to do that? Even experienced beastmen had trouble maneuvering on their own ganman, let alone someone else's. "That was thoughtful of you. Now please leave. It would be very bad if you got hurt." Lordgenome would have his head!

She pouted. "I won't get hurt! I know how to be careful! I'm almost seven years old!"

Well, damn. She was technically a year older than him, even if he had been created in his early twenties.

"Princess, I insist," he said with a small amount of bite in his tone. He went to grab her, not roughly, but his intentions to gently but firmly and guide her out went astray.

"Ouch! Let go!"

He didn't need to be told twice as he could already smell the blood mingling with the scent of grease. "Princess, I didn't mean to."

She looked up at him, tears welling in her eyes. "Bully," she snapped before walking away from him, cradling her injured arm, but not bawling.

He looked at the blood on his claws. Then he looked up at his mammoth ganman.

Humans were so fragile, the ganman seemed like overkill. Yet they were so resilient. A contradiction. What was a human?...

* * *

><p>Viral walked along the beach, picking up and examining a small piece of beach glass. It was an unusual shade of blue, and had a hole in the center. Possibly part of a bottle neck at one point, he mused as one of his subordinates informed him that the census had been taken of the whore village, and that they were ready to depart upon his orders. He slipped the piece of glass into his pocket without thinking about it. It wasn't until he was headed to the king's throne room that he realized he had taken it with him. He stopped in his tracks for a moment to watch the sunlight glint off of the still lustrous piece of glass.<p>

"Hi, Viral."

Blue eyes that matched the bead in his hand stared up at him happily, his past offense apparently forgotten by her. He still remembered, though.

"Greeting, Princess."

She pouted. "I told you not to call me that! I don't call you Prince Viral, do I?"

"I'm not a Prince, though."

"But you _are_ my friend. And friends don't need titles! What are you holding?"

He didn't answer for a moment, caught off guard by her declaration of their friendship. He didn't consider himself her friend. What was this strange child thinking? "It's beach glass," he explained, getting on his knees and displaying it in the palm of his hands.

Kimi looked at in wonder. "What is a beach?"

"A beach is a bunch of sand by the ocean." Anticipating her next question, he continued, "The ocean a big collection of water that tastes salty and, on a good day, is the color of… well, this color," he referred to the bead-like glass.

"Wow. If someone else had told me about the existence of a thing such as the ocean, I never would have believed them."

He looked between the blue in his hands and the blue of her wide eyes a few times, before finally conceding to his impulse. "Why don't you keep it as a memento?"

"Really?"

He nodded, and she happily accepted the small, unintentional gift. He stood, and politely excused himself to continue his duty of reporting to the Spiral King. She addressed him again, though, causing him to stop in his tracks and turn around.

"Viral, what is a memento?"

"It's an item that reminds you of something else," he explained quickly before returning to his mission yet again. Not once did he question Kimi's unconditional trust or quick forgiveness. She was just a ridiculous human child, after all, no different from the ones her father often ordered his loyal beastmen to kill…

* * *

><p>"What's all the fuss about, sir?"<p>

"You didn't hear? Her Royal Bitchiness pushed the Spiral King's buttons one too many times! He's going to put the filth and her spawn in crates and dump them over a cliff, just like he always does when he tires of his daughters. I wonder when Nia will be joining her older sister?" General Thymilph finished with a laugh as he sauntered off with the rest of the crowd filing down the hallways of Teppelin.

It took Viral a few moments to realize what he had just heard: Kimi and her mother were going to be killed today.

He rushed into the crowd, ruffling plenty of feathers as he jostled his way to the throne room, which would apparently act as a pseudo-execution chamber. He managed to shove his way to the inner ring of the circle that had formed around the throne. The soon-to-be-deceased were there as well. Kimi was off to the side slightly, being held in place by a rather oafish looking Cow-beastman, and her mother was directly in the center of the circle, gagged and bound. And who should be the one shoving her into her coffin but her lover and father of her child, Lordgenome.

The crowd of rowdy beastmen cheered all around Viral, but he remained quiet as he watched the scene unfold, thinking about the whole situation. Lordgenome was his master, and as such unquestionable, but this didn't sit right with Viral. If indeed the mother deserved to die, then why was Kimi here, being made to watch before she suffered the same fate? He knew Lordgenome despised self-awareness in his children. Would her mother's death make Kimi self-aware because she would question what happened after death, and what her role in existence was?

The child wouldn't necessarily think that, reasoned Viral. But, then again, Viral knew Kimi was a curious child, and if her father had noticed this he probably realized as well that she would ask sooner rather than later.

But this execution method seemed rather… cruel. Of course, Viral killed dozens of humans on a regular basis, yet this seemed different. It was, as he saw, torturous, as they would have to wait and die slowly, either by suffocation or starvation; he didn't know how tightly the box would be sealed. At least with ganmen there was a sort of civility in the fact that death came quickly.

He looked at Kimi then. She was wide eyed with horror. It appeared to him that she was so traumatized she wasn't even crying.

The Cow, enjoying the spectacle of the woman vainly struggling against Lordgenome, seemed to forget himself and let go of the young Princess, who remained where she was for a few moments. She was so transfixed by the sight in front of her she had lost awareness of the world around her for a few moments. But self-preservation prevailed, and the moment she realized she was free she quickly and quietly ran out the carelessly opened throne room door, the echoes of her mother's muffled screams following her down the halls.

Viral saw this, and said nothing even as the crowd cheered with joy for the woman's inescapable death and anticipation of the imprisonment yet to come. He couldn't understand why he remained silent. It was his job to fulfill the Spiral King's wishes, and right now his wishes involved killing Kimi, but he let the little girl escape anyway.

Her escape was noticed eventually, however. "Where is my daughter?" Lordgenome's commanding voice silenced the cheering as confused beastmen glanced around. "Find her, and bring her back here. I will deal with your punishment later," he threatened the now sheepish looking Cow.

Viral joined the search. Due to the sheer number of beastmen in the crowd, it would be impossible for even the beastmen with the best sense of smell to track her until they moved far enough away from the crowd. And they would only be able to pick up the scent if they had gone in the same direction she had, which meant having a good idea as to where she would try to hide in the first place. Viral had not only seen her exit, but was fairly certain as to where she was going, scent trail or not.

He managed to lose the other trackers by taking a more direct, less traveled route to the ganman hangar. It didn't take him long to find her hidden in Enki's cockpit.

She cowered; obviously afraid he was going to take her back to her father. He considered it for a minute. It was his job, after all, and he had never disobeyed the Spiral King. And yet…

She seemed to recognize him then, and she hugged him for all she was worth, as though her life depended on it. This was the 'yet' that had him stumped. She trusted him and believed he would be able to protect her. It was an impossible choice…

"You have to leave. There's a vent in the wall that will take you directly outside."

"What about Nia?" she choked out between sobs.

"Your sister will be fine." _ For a few more years, at least. As long as she doesn't ask about you. _ "You have to go. There are people outside, people like you. Find them, and tell them you're lost and that your parents are dead, that the beastmen killed them. Do not let them know your father is the Spiral King."

"Why?"

He scowled as he carried her to the vent. "You'll find out. Now go, and don't look back," he finished, setting the seven year old down and removing the vent's grate. She quickly jumped up again and hugged him.

"Thank you. Goodbye," she whispered, and as she turned away, the glint of the glass bead caught his eye.

She disappeared into the vent and Viral replaced the grate. He then proceeded to remove her scent from the area and himself using grease and polish. No one would be the wiser.

This middle road had been an acceptable solution. He wasn't directly defying the King by escaping with the Princess himself, since the monarch wanted the girl dead and she would probably perish within a day or so underneath the desert sun, and he wasn't betraying his conscience either, since she had a better chance for survival in the desert than she did in Teppelin. He pushed Kimi to the back of his mind, satisfied. She was no longer a part of his life, no longer his concern, no longer an inconvenience, no longer a friend…

His concern, inconvenience, friend, life. It was all so contradictory. What was a human?


	22. Cry to the Moon

Kind of a short ending, but my very first fanfic is over now.

I want to thank everybody who followed/favorited/reviewed my story. But I'd like to ask you guys to write me more reviews and let me know what you liked/didn't like specifically. That way, I can improve my writing and craft even better stories!

I do not own Gurren Lagann. But I do own a really cool Dai-Gurren Brigade shirt!

* * *

><p>He would have screamed in agony, but his vocal chords were still regenerating, if the steady drip of blood down the back of his throat and into his lungs was any indication. His skull felt like it was being ripped in half, his teeth pounded into his jaw with a hammer, his eyes being burned with an iron poker even as they tried to focus on the world around him.<p>

By the time he could cough up the blood and curl into a ball, the worst of the damage had been repaired. He closed his eyes, though even in his daze his pride refused to allow him to whimper. Despite being fully conscious it still took him a moment to sort through the traumatic impressions and remember what had torn him to shreds in the first place. It wasn't until the scent of charred flesh reached his new nose that he could recall.

_Kimi._

He sat bolt upright, and was horrified by what he saw. Enkinex was completely destroyed. There were parts everywhere, completely indistinguishable as to what they were prior to the explosion. They were no more than hunks of metal, warped from the heat and the force of the explosion. Oil fires burned both between and on the parts, filing the air with the ghastly scent of fried wire coating. Even the rocks were blackened. It looked and smelled as though a full scale battle had taken place instead of one ganman fleeing a small battalion.

_But where was Kimi?_

Viral didn't even wait for his legs to regain feeling as he stumbled around, calling her name in a hoarse voice, hoping she was alive and relatively unhurt. In his state of shock, he couldn't comprehend that she wasn't alright. _She has to be alright._

After searching aimlessly for what seemed to be hours, but in reality was only a few minutes, he saw what he thought resembled Enkinex's cockpit halfway lodged into the dirt. He rushed over as best he could, considering he had to climb over red hot metal and maneuver around oil fires, to see if Kimi was still inside. It took him several long, agonizing minutes, but he finally managed to reach the cockpit and pry the battered metal from the entrance.

His thrill at opening the door quickly sank. It reeked horribly of blood and smoke, and the portion of the hull that was stuck in the ground had a huge chunk missing. The chair was once again dislodged, but this time it was spattered with red. Bile rose in his throat. Some of the blood was his, he could smell, but some of it was Kimi's too. And it was already beginning to dry.

He had to find her quickly! So much time had already passed! In fact the sun was beginning to rise at this point. He didn't allow himself time to think about if she had died instantly or was at risk of bleeding out or was suffering trauma. He subconsciously put everything else out of his mind save for finding her, because panicking about the possibilities would simply be a waste of time.

It was impossible for him to follow her scent. She had probably been thrown out of the ganman the same way he had been, otherwise there would have been a trail of blood for him to follow. Therefore, he wandered around, examining every patch of darkened earth as though it might give him a clue, but never spending too long in one spot for fear of wasting time. He combed the area until he reached the side opposite of where he had woken.

Just when he was concocting a convoluted theory about how the Grapearl Squad had found her in the wreckage and had taken her to Kamina City for medical treatment before she ended up safely in jail, the morning sun caught something reflective amidst the soot-covered metal. He rushed over to it…

… And promptly wished he had never seen it.

Hanging on what was likely once Enkinex's leg was the glass bead, morphed into a teardrop by the heat, dangling over an obscenely large puddle of drying blood.

He snatched at the leather strap which had caught in a fissure in the metal and cut it. It was actually surprising that the strap had survived, but he failed to notice the odd detail. He cradled the bead in his hands. It was still extremely hot and burned the flesh of his hands, but he could neither feel nor smell it. All he was aware of for those infinite, brief moments was the bead.

Then his focus turned to the blood. It was all Kimi's; he could smell it. No human being could lose so much blood and survive.

He sank to his knees, still in shock. Then it finally sunk in; Kimi was dead.

"No," he whispered, his voice steady despite the pangs in his chest. She was dead. Rossiu, maybe even Simon's men, (he didn't make the distinction anymore. How could the Supreme Commander be ignorant of all of the injustice going on right under his nose!) had killed her, so that people could continue to be forced from underground. He had murdered his own girlfriend's sister in order to conceal the wrongdoings.

He shut out the pain, buried his heartache. He was not going to cry to the moon like a wounded animal! Mourning the dead could not bring them back to life. By no means would he forget her, but he was not going to sit here and lick his wounds and act as though his life could never have meaning without her. He stood and began his march back to where Enki was still waiting in the canyon. He was going to end this madness. "For your sake," he mumbled, glancing down at the still hot bead in his hand.

Little did he know that his vow might possibly have been noted by a third party, a large pink ganman-like mecha hovering quietly nearby.

As it stood, the mecha took no notice of an insignificant beastman's loss. It had collected the necessary data on the ganman Gurren and had even collected additional data and a few samples. Now finished with its mission, it took off and miraculously disappeared into the morning sky in the general direction of the moon.


End file.
